THEFIRSTMINUTE

HOWTOSTARTCONVERSATIONSTHATGETRESULTS

CHRISFENNING

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedorusedinany

mannerwithoutwrittenpermissionofthecopyrightownerexceptfortheuseof

quotationsinabookreview.

Formoreinformation,address:chris@chrisfenning.com

TheFirstMinute

HowtoStartConversationsThatGetResults

ByChrisFenning

BookcoverbyMarkoPolic

Publishedby:AlignmentGroup

20-22WenlockRoad

London

N17GU

FirstpaperbackeditionNovember2020

ISBN978-1-8382440-0-2(paperback)

ISBN978-1-8382440-1-9(hardcover)

ISBN978-1-8382440-2-6(ebook)

ISBN978-1-8382440-3-3(audiobook)

www.chrisfenning.com

CONTENTS

Introduction-iv

Chapter1

Whatisthefirstminute?

Chapter2

framing

chapter3

structuredsummaries

chapter4

timecheckandvalidationcheckpoint71

chapter5

ApplyingTHETechniquesinDifferentSituations

Conclusion

113

Resources

115

Acknowledgements

117

INTRODUCTION

Thisbookisastep-bystepguideforstartingclear,concisecommunicationin

everydayworksituations.Thisincludestheconversationsandemailswithyour

teams,peers,andmanagersthataccountforover80percentofyour

communicationatwork.

Thetechniquesdescribedinthisbookarebasedonthefollowingcoreprinciples.

Youmustprepareyouraudiencetoreceiveyourmessagebeforeyoudeliverit.

Peoplearebusy,soyouneedtogettothepointquickly.

Themosteffectiveworkconversationsfocusonactionsandsolutions,noton

problems.

Thereissomecrossoverintosocialcommunication,butthefocusofthisbookis

communicationatwork.

***

Wecommunicatewithdozensandsometimeshundredsofpeopleeverydayat

work.Everyconversationrelatestoadifferenttaskortopic,andtheyallhave

differentgoalsandoutcomes.Eachtimewestartaconversation,weknowwhat

wearegoingtotalkaboutandwhyit’simportant.Unfortunately,thepeoplewe

speaktodon’tknoweitherofthesethings.

Whenwestartcommunicating,ouraudience’sbrainsmustworktounderstand

thecontextofthewords.Theytrytoworkoutwhywearetalkingtothemand

whattheyneedtodowiththeinformation.Ifthesethingsaren’tclearinthefirst

fewsentences,theirmindscreatetheirownversionofthefacts.Thisleadsto

manyproblems,fromwastedtimetoincorrectassumptionsandhigh-cost

mistakes.

AstudybySiemensEnterpriseCommunicationsfoundthatabusinesswithone

hundredemployeesspendsanaverageofseventeenhoursaweekclarifying

communications.¹Thatis884hoursayearthatcouldbespentdeliveringvalue

tocustomersinsteadofrepeatinginformationtomakesureit’sunderstood.To

avoidthisrepetition,everyconversationshouldstartclearlyandconcisely.This

istruewhetheryouarecommunicatingaboutprinterpaperorthelaunchofa

million-dollaradvertisingcampaign.

Eachconversationcanbesetupforsuccessifthecontext,intent,andmessage

areclear.Eventhemostcomplextopicscanbestartedsimplyandclearlyifthey

aresummarizedusingtherightstructure.Itisalsopossibletoachieveallthisin

lessthanaminutebyapplyingthetechniquesinthisbook.

Byfocusingonthefirstminute,youcanpositioneveryworkconversationfor

success.Dothis,andyouwillberecognizedasagreatprofessional

communicator.

Thetechniquesinthisbookshowhowtogivetheinformationyouraudience

actuallyneeds.Thefirstminuteisnotabouttryingtocondenseallthe

informationintosixtyseconds.Itisabouthavingclearintent,talkingaboutone

topicatatime,andfocusingonsolutionsinsteadofdwellingonproblems.

Creatingthemosteffectivefirstminuteofanyworkconversationisatwo-step

process.

Step1:Frametheconversationinfifteensecondsorless.Framingprovides

context,makesyourintentionsclear,andgivesaclearheadline.

Step2:Createastructuredsummaryoftheentiremessageyouneedto

deliver.Statethegoalanddefinetheproblemthatstandsbetweenyouand

achievingthatgoal.Thenfocustheconversationonthesolution.

Byfollowingthesesteps,youcanstartanyworkconversationfeelingconfident

thatyouarecommunicatingclearly.Thisisallpossibleinlessthanaminute,no

matterhowcomplexthetopic.

Throughoutthisbookyou’lldiscoverhowto:

Haveshorter,betterworkconversationsandmeetings

Gettothepointfasterwithoutramblingorgoingoffontangents

Reducetheriskofmistakescausedbypeopleincorrectlyassumingthey

understandyourmessage

Leadyouraudiencetowardthesolutionyouneed

Applyonetechniquetoalmosteveryconversationwithgreatresults

Itdoesn’tmatterwhatyourjobtitleisorwhatlevelyouoccupyinthe

organization;theprinciplesinthisbookwillhelpyoubecomeaclearer,more

concise,andeffectivecommunicator,andyou’llbeabletodoitfast.

Iamgoingtostartbyaddressingthemostcommoncausesofmiscommunication

atwork.

Lackofcontext

Unclearpurpose

Notgettingtothepoint

Mixingupmultipletopicsinthesameconversation

Lengthy,unclearsummaries

You’lllearnhowtoavoidthesepitfallsandhowtosummarizeyourentire

messageinlessthanaminute.Theresultwillbeasummarythatmakesitclear

whatyouaretryingtoachieveandwhatyouwouldlikeyouraudiencetodo.

You’llseehowthistechniqueworksindifferentsituations,industries,andjob

types.

Youwillalsolearnaboutthethreecomponentsofframing—context,intent,and

keymessage—andhowtheseprovidethefoundationforasuccessful

conversation.

Finally,you’lldiscoverthethreecomponentsrequiredofastructuredsummary:

1)thegoalyouaretryingtoachieve,2)theproblemstoppingyoufromreaching

thatgoal,and3)thesolutiontotheproblem.Thesethreethingswillenableyou

tosummarizeanytopic,nomatterhowcomplex.

Thelastsectionofthisbookshowshowtoapplythesetechniquesinawide

varietyofsituations.

Alongthewayyou’llmeetmanagers,softwaredevelopers,secretaries,and

executives;witnessthefrustrationsofmissingoutondessert;ridethe

conversationrollercoaster;learnavaluablelessonincommunicationfromacar

mechanic;andevenlearnwhyitcostssomuchtoputpeopleintospace.

Thisbookisaresultofmorethan20,000conversationsinbothbusinessand

technicaljobs.I’vetrainedindividualsandteamsaroundtheworldinthese

techniques.I’veworkedwithorganizationsfromstart-upstoFortune50and

FTSE100companies.Thesemethodsworkforthemall.

Applythesetechniques,andyouwillhaveshorter,clearerconversationsthatget

results.Itiseasierthanyoumightexpect,anditallstartswiththefirstminute.

CHAPTER1

WHATISTHEFIRSTMINUTE?

Thefirstminutestartswhenyoustarttalkingabouttheworktopic.

Inthecontextofthisbook,thefirstminuteisnotalwaysthestartofthe

interactionwithyouraudience.Itdoesnotincludethegreetingorthetimespent

onpersonalengagement.Throughoutthisbook,thefirstminutereferstothestart

oftheworkconversation.Theclockstartswhenyoushiftfrompersonalto

professionaltopics.

Manybooksdescribehowtostartconversationsthatestablishandbuild

relationships.Othersshowyouhowtomakeagreatfirstimpressioninan

intervieworonadate.Stillmoreshowyouhowtostartchallenging

conversationstherightway.Whatnoneofthosebooksteachishowtostart

conversationsaboutnormal,everydayworktopics.

Itispossibletomakeagreatfirstimpressionwithacolleague,onlytoruinthat

impressionwhentheconversationshiftstowork.Itdoesn’tmatterhowmuch

peoplelikeyou;ifyoucannotdeliverinformationinanorganizedway,youwill

haveahardtimebeingrespectedprofessionally.

WHYISTHEFIRSTMINUTEIMPORTANT?

Thewaywecommunicateatworkinfluenceshowpeoplethinkaboutus.Itcan

impacttheopportunitieswegetordon’tget,andtheconsequencescanbe

significant.Poorcommunicationskillsareoneofthetopreasonswhypeople

don’tgetpromoted.²Thisisespeciallytrueforpeopleapplyingforleadership

positions.

Wespendovereighthoursatworkeveryweekday.Over50percentofthattime

isspentcommunicatingeitherverballyorthroughwriting.³Thatisalotoftime.

Allthoseinteractionsleaveeitheragoodorabadimpressionaboutourabilityto

communicate.

Howwouldyourateyourcommunicationskills?Doyouleaveagood

impression,oristhereroomforimprovement?

Ifyouarereadingthisandthinkingit’stoolateforyou—you’vealreadymadea

badfirstimpression,andthere’snopointtryingtofixit—don’tdespair!You

mayhavehadsomelessthanidealconversationsatwork,butyoucanturnit

aroundandbecomearolemodelforclearcommunication.

Researchshowsthatpoorfirstimpressionscanbereversedbyaconsistent

strongperformance.Ittakeseightgoodimpressionstooverturnabadone.⁴That

maysoundlikealot,butwehavesomanyinteractionsatworkthatitdoesn’t

takelongtohaveeightconversationswithsomeone.Forexample,ifyouhave

oneconversationeverydaywithacolleague,youcangofrombeingregardedas

apoorcommunicatortobeingseenasagreatoneinlessthantwoweeks.When

youfactorinemailsandmeetings,thenumberoftimesyoucommunicatewith

someoneeachdaygoesup,andtheturnaroundtimeisevenshorter.

Whatwouldyougivetogofrombeingseenasapoororaveragecommunicator

tobeingseenasagreatcommunicatorinjusteightconversations?

Plus,whileyoumayhavesomeworktodotochangetheimpressionsofthe

peopleyouworkwith,therearemanymorechancestogivefirstimpressions

whenyoumeetandworkwithnewpeopleinotherteamsandinnewcompanies

asyourcareerprogresses.

Inthecomingchapters,you’lllearnhowtocreateagreatfirstminutenomatter

whatyouwanttotalkaboutatwork.Whenyouapplythistoallyourwork

conversations,itwillbecomeanaturalpartofhowyouconveyinformation,

makerequests,andengageinallothertypesofdailyworkcommunication.

CHAPTER2

FRAMING

Framinghappensinthefirst

fifteensecondsofaconversation.

“Framinghelpsindividualsinterpretdata.”–ErvingGoffman

Theproblemwithstartingconversationsaboutworktopicsisthatwearenever

taughthowtodoit.Mostprofessionalshavefourteentoeighteenyearsof

schoolingandyetdon’tgetasinglelessononhowtostartconversationsabout

worktopics.Nowonderwehavesomanyineffectiveconversationsatwork.

Justoveradecadeago,Iwasasoftwareprojectmanagerforatelecomcompany

overseeingthedeliveryofsoftwareonnewmobilephonestobesoldacross

Europe.Wehadatleasteightcomplexprojectsrunningatanyonetime,mostof

theminvolvinghundredsofpeopleinmanycountries.

Likemanylargeprojects,wehadourshareofcommunicationissues,butit

wasn’ttheoccasionalbreakdownincommunicationthatcausedusproblems.

Ourteamsseemedtostrugglewithday-to-daycommunications.Everyoneonthe

projectssaidtheproblemwaslanguagebarriersandculturaldifferencesthat

comewithworkingacrossacontinent.ButthemoreIobservedtheteams,the

moreIrealizedsomethingelsewascausingthefrustration.

TheissuebecamerealformeonedaywhenIwaswalkingtolunch.Steve,a

memberofmytestingteam,stoppedmejustoutsidethecafeteria.Hestarted

talkingaboutanissuewithatestcaseononeofhisprojects.Afterafew

minutes,Iinterruptedhim.“I’msorry,”Isaid.“Whatprojectisthisfor?”

“Oh,thisisfortheLT-10program.”Thenhecarriedontalkingabouttheissue.

Havingfoundouttheprojectname,someoftheinformationhegavemademore

sense.TheLT-10projectwasahigh-profileproductlaunchdueinthenextfew

weeks.Hehadmyattentionnow,andIrefocusedonhisexplanation.

Afewmoreminutespassed,anditstillwasn’tclearwhattheissuewasorwhyI

neededtoknowaboutit.

Alargegroupofpeoplewalkedpastusandjoinedthelunchline,whichnow

extendedintothecorridor.Withagrowlingstomachandanimageofanempty

dessertcounter,IwaitedforStevetofinishhiscurrentthought.“Iheardalotof

interestingthingsthere,”Isaid.“IstheresomethingspecificIcanhelpwith?”

Stevelookedconfused.“Oh,”hesaid,“Ithoughtyoumightwanttoknowwe’ll

missthetestingdeadline.Ineedyourapprovaltomovethego-livedateouta

month.”

Thisrevelationchangedthenatureoftheinteractionsignificantly.Thiswasabig

deal.ThemanufacturerhadmillionsofdollarsofTVadvertisingspendlockedin

fortheendofthemonth.Therewasnowaywecouldmissthedeadline.

Theimagesofdessertfled,andIaskedStevetostartagainfromthebeginning.

Thistimethedetailshesharedmademoresense.Iwasabletoaskclarifying

questionstohelpmedecidethebestcourseofaction.

Thesituationhighlightedakeyissueinthewayourteamscommunicated.Ifit

tookalmosttenminutestosaywehadamajorissueonaflagshipprogram,we

hadacommunicationproblem.Anditwasabiggerproblemthan“cultural

differences”couldcause.

Question:Haveyoueverbeenonthereceivingendofaconversationlikethe

oneIhadwithSteve?

Ifyouansweredno,youprobablyworkwithpeoplewhoknowhowtogetthe

firstminuterightwhentheycommunicate.Ifyouansweredyes,considerthe

followingquestions:

Doesithappenoften?

Didtheeventualrevelationofwhatwasneededchangethewayyoureactedto

theinformation?

Wasitanefficientuseoftimeforyouandtheotherpersonorpeopleinvolved?

Here’saharderquestionforyou:Haveyoueverstartedconversationslikethe

oneintheexample?

Inmylivetrainingsessions,thisisthepointwhentheaudiencefallssilent.

Eventually,Iseesomereluctantnodsaspeoplerealizetheyoftenstarttheir

conversationsthisway.

Confessiontime:Ihavestartedconversationsliketheoneintheexample.In

fact,Iusedtostartmostofmyconversationsthisway.Iwassofocusedonthe

topicIwantedtotalkabout,Iforgotthatotherpeopledidn’thavethesame

informationasme.ThismeantIstartedmanyconversationsinanunstructured

andunclearway.

Afewweeksafterthelunchtimecorridorconversation,theincidentwasstillin

myhead.Iwantedtoknowwhatwecoulddotobeclearerandgettothepoint

fasterwhensharinginformationatwork.Istartedstudyingtheconversationsin

myteamsandbegantonoticecommonthemes.Itbecameclearthatmanywork

conversationsstartedwiththefollowingissues.

Failingtoprovidecontextforthemessage.Thishappenswhentheaudiencedoesn’tknowwhatthe

topicisabout.

Nothavingaclearpurposeforthemessage.Thishappenswhentheaudiencedoesn’tknowwhythey

arereceivingtheinformation.

Notgettingtothepointfastenough.Thespeakersharesalotofinformationandtakestoolongtoget

tothecriticalpartofhisorhermessage.

Mixinguptwoormoretopicsinthesameconversation.Thespeakerhastwoor

moretopicstodiscuss,butitisn’tclearwhattheyare.

Eachofthesemistakescanbeavoidedbystartingtheconversationwiththree

shortstatements.Thesestatementsarerequiredforeveryworkconversationto

startwithclarity.

Context:Thisisthetopicyouwanttotalkabout.Ofallthetopicsinthe

world,thisistheoneyouwilltalkaboutnow.

Intent:Whatyouwanttheaudiencetodowiththeinformationyouare

abouttoshare.

Keymessage:Themostimportantpartoftheoverallmessageyouareabout

todeliver(theheadline).

Theseelementsremainthesamenomatterwhatthetopicis,whoistalking,and

whoislistening.Whenusedtogetherintherightorder,thesethreeelements

frameyourmessage.

Framingisthesimplestwaytoprepareanaudiencetoreceiveyourmessage

beforeyougointodetail.Itletstheaudienceknowwhatisexpectedofthem

rightfromthestart.Clearframingensurestheyunderstandthecoreofthe

messagewithinafewsentences.

Framingshouldtakenomorethanthreesentencesandbedeliveredinlessthan

fifteenseconds.

Intheexampleabove,ifStevehadstartedhisconversationwithmewith

framing,wewouldnothaveneededtorepeatthefirsttenminutes.

Therearelotsofwaystoframeatopic.Hereareacoupleofexamples.

“Hi,we’reworkingonthetestingfortheLT-10project.Ineedyourhelpbecause

wehaveatestingissueandaregoingtomissthedeadline.”

“We’retestingtheLT-10;youshouldknowwe’regoingtobelate.”

Bothoftheseexamplesprovidecontextbynamingtheproject.Thefirstexample

clarifiestheintentbystatingtheneedforhelp.Thesecondexamplehasthe

intentofdeliveringnews.Bothdeliverthekeymessageaboutamisseddeadline,

thoughthesecondexampleismoreefficient.

Thesemayseemabrupt,butthepointisn’ttoconveyyourentiremessagein

fifteenseconds.Thepointistoletyouraudienceknowwhatyouaregoingto

talkabout,sotheyaren’tguessingforthefirstfewminutesoftheconversation.

Ifthefirstlinesofyourmessageprovidecontext,intent,andakeymessage,you

willhaveclearerconversationseverytime.

>>Activity<<

Howwelldoyoustartyourworkcommunication?Grabthelastimportantemail

yousent.Thelongertheemailis,thebetteritwillworkforthisactivity.While

muchofthisbookdescribeshowtostartconversations,theprinciplesarethe

sameforwrittenformsofcommunicationaswell.Ourmemoriesarenotas

reliableaswethink,andusinganemailforthisactivitywillhelpyouseeexactly

whatyouwrote.

Didyouprovidecontext,showclearintent,anddeliverakeymessageupfront?

Ifyoudidn’ttickalltheboxes,don’tworry.Inthenextsections,youwilllearn

aboutthethreecorecomponentsofframingandhowtoapplythemcorrectly.In

theprocess,you’llseehoweasyitistomakeasimpleyetpowerfulchangeto

thewayyoustartyourconversations.

CONTEXT

“Withoutcontext,apieceofinformationisjustadot.

Itfloatsinyourbrainwithalotofotherdotsanddoesn’tmeanathing.”

–MichaelVentura

Whenyoustarttalkingorwritinganemail,youalreadyknowthecontextofthe

topic.It’sinyourhead.andyou’veprobablybeenthinkingaboutitforawhile.

Unfortunately,youraudiencedoesn’thavethebenefitofthatknowledge.They

mighthavenoideawhatprojectyouaretalkingaboutorwhatproblemyouwant

todiscuss.Theyalmostcertainlyhaveotherthingsontheirminds,suchasother

work,budgetissues,whattohaveforlunch,aproblemathome,andsoon.

Whatevertheyarethinkingabout,itisunlikelytobethethingyouwanttotalk

about.

Beforeyoustarttalkingaboutthedetailsofyourmessage,youneedtoprovide

somecontext.Youneedtoorientyouraudience,soyouarestartingatthesame

point.

Thisiseasytodoifyoustartyourmessagewithasimplecontext-based

statement.

Nametheprojectortheissue.

Nametheprocess,system,ortoolyouwilltalkabout.

Givethenameofthecustomerwithwhomyouareworking.

Namethetaskorobjectiveyouwanttotalkabout.

Theoptionsareendless.Thekeyistogivethecontextquickly,soyouraudience

knowsthetopicorareayouaregoingtotalkabout.

Withoutcontext,theaudienceisnotonthesamepageasyou.Theywillbe

distractedtryingtoworkoutwhatthetopicofthediscussionis.Startinga

conversationwithclearcontextfocusesyouraudienceonthetopicyouwantto

talkaboutandhelpsfilterouttheotherthingsthatareintheirheads.

Aretheresituationswherecontextisn’tneededatthestartofawork

conversation?

No.Contextisalwaysneededwhenstartinganewconversationatwork.

Thereareafewscenarioswhereitappearsthatcontextisn’tneeded,but

appearancesaredeceptive.Forexample,ifyouaretalkingtoateammember

aboutaprojectonwhichyouhavecollaboratedcloselyforweeks,itmayseem

likeyoudon’tneedtoprovidetheprojectnameascontextfortheconversation.

Eveninthiscase,atthemomentyouwanttotalktoyourcolleagueaboutthe

project,heorshecouldhaveanynumberofotherthingsinhisorherhead.Even

ifyourcolleagueisthinkingabouttheproject,thechanceheorsheisthinking

aboutthespecifictopicyouwanttotalkaboutistiny.Intheunlikelyeventyour

colleagueisthinkingaboutthesametopicasyou,youwon’tloseanythingby

providingcontext.

Neverassumetheotherpersonknowswhatyouaretalkingabout.Itonlytakesa

fewsecondstoprovidecontext,andthatwillavoidalotofconfusion.Infact,

youwillgainpositiveengagementbyconfirmingyoubothwanttotalkaboutthe

samething.

Herearesomeexamplesofcontextsthatyoumayneedtoprovideineveryday

worksituations.

I’mworkingonprojectABC...

Iwasreviewingthenewinformationsecuritypolicy...

We’reclosingthesaleontheJeffersonaccount...

I’mabouttosubmitarequestfortimeoff...

Ireadthemarketingreportyousentme...

Theofficesupplieshavearrived...

Thenewbudgetcameout...

Iwanttorewardmyteam...

(listcontinued)

I’mplanningtheofficeparty...

We’rereviewingthepolicyforXYZ...

Mycarbrokedown...

Thekitchensinkisleaking...

Theselinesareshort,clear,andeachonetakeslessthanfivesecondstosay.

Theoptionsforwhattoprovideascontextareasvariedasthenumberofjobs

andsituationsthatexistintheworld.Despitethisvariety,onlyonethingis

requiredwhenprovidingcontext:makeitclearwhatyouwanttotalkabout.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Lookagainattheemailyouchoseinthepreviouschapter.Doesitprovideclear

context?Whatwouldyouchangetomakethecontextclearer?

INTENT

“Tellmewhatyouwant,whatyoureally,reallywant.”

–TheSpiceGirls

Nowthatyou’veprovidedcontextandgottentheaudienceonthesamepageas

you,it’stimetoletthemknowwhatyouneedthemtodowiththeinformation

youareabouttoshare.

Makeitclearwhyyouarecommunicating

Wheneverwereceiveinformation,ittakesourbrainsafewmomentstoworkout

whattodowithit.⁵Wetrytoworkoutifwehavetoansweraquestion,ifthe

speakerislookingforaresponse,whetherweneedtotakeactionormakea

decision,andsoon.Ourbrainsdothisallday,everyday.Weprocess

informationandtrytoworkouttheappropriateresponse.Thismeansthatwhen

youcommunicate,youraudience’sbrainsaretryingtoworkoutwhattodowith

yourmessage.Theyaredoingthisevenbeforeyougettothepoint.

Thelongerittakestostatethepurposeofyourmessage,thegreaterthechance

youraudiencewillformtheiropinionofyourintent.Theimpactsofthisrange

fromminortosevere.Theaudiencecouldmakeanincorrectassumption.They

coulddecidethemessageisn’timportantortakeunnecessaryaction.The

consequencesoftheseresponsesvarydependingonthesituation.

Whenyourevealyourrealintentions,theconversationmayneedtorestart,and

youraudiencewillneedtoreprocesstheinformationwiththecorrectfilter.

Example:

Emmaclosedherlaptopandstartedtopackupherdesk.Sheneededtobeonthe

roadinthenextfifteenminutestogettotheoffsitestrategymeeting.Asshewas

abouttoleave,hercolleagueDanielstuckhisheadaroundthedoor.

“Doyouhaveaminute?”heasked.“It’saboutTechCorp.”

“I’vegotafewminutes,”Emmareplied,checkingherwatch.TechCorpwasa

topicinthestrategymeeting,andDanielwasthemaincontactfortheiraccount.

Ifsomethinghadhappenedthatwasn’tinhernotes,shewouldneedtoknow

aboutit.

“Great,”Danielsaid.Hesteppedintoherofficeandshookhishead.“You’ll

neverguesswhattheydidthistime.”

“You’reright,”Emmareplied.“Whydon’tyoufillmein.”

“Theyjustreleasedanimprovementtotheirsoftware.Theycannowsupportall

thechangeswewant.”

“That’sgreat,”Emmasaid.Akeypartoftheirgrowthstrategyhingedon

TechCorpbeingabletosupportmoredata.Thiswasexactlywhatsheneededto

knowforthestrategymeeting.

“Notexactly,”Danielreplied.

“Whatdoyoumean?”

“Thechangesupportsthenewfeatureswewant,butitstoppedallthecurrent

datagettingtotheirsystem.It’samajormistake.”

ThegoodfeelingEmmahadamomentbeforefled,replacedwithconcern.She

begantoworkthroughtheimplicationsofthesystembeingdown.Hermind

racedthroughcontingencyplansandcallsshewouldneedtomake.TechCorp

processedallmembershipfornewsales.Iftheprocesswasn’tworking,itmeant

aseriousdisruptiontotheircustomers.

“Whendidthishappen?”sheasked.

“Lastnight,”Danielsaid.

“Thesystemhasbeendownallmorning?Whywasn’tthisraisedassoonasit

happened?”

Danielexplainedhowhisteamfoundtheissueinthetestingphaseofthe

softwarereleaseprocess.Aftertheyfoundtheissue,theunplannedupdatewas

removedbeforeitimpactedanycustomers.Hestressedthatthetestingprocesses

hadworkedwellbecausetheycaughttheissuebeforeitaffectedanycustomers.

Unfortunately,intheprocessofremovingtheproblem,TechCorpuncovered

anotherpreviouslyunknownissuethathadevenbiggerimplications.

Eachtimethestorytookanotherturn,Emmaalternatedbetweenconcernand

relief.Despitetheupsanddowns,theinformationseemedtohaveapositive

trend.Hermainconcernwasthatshedidn’tknowwhatDanielwantedhertodo.

TechCorpwasacorepartofthestrategyforthenextthreeyears.Shehadto

knowifthisissueaffectedtheplanbeforetheexecutiveteamfinalizeditthat

afternoon.

“Thissoundsserious,”Emmasaid,jumpinginduringabreakinDaniel’s

monologue.“Doweneedtofindanothersupplier?”

“Ohno,”Danielsaid,“theyfoundawayarounditthismorning.”

Bythispoint,Emmahadlosttrackofwhethertheyhadaproblemornot.“I’m

sorry,Daniel,butI’mconfused.IstheresomethingspecificIneedtoknowabout

TechCorpbeforemymeeting?”

Daniellookedsurprised.“Ohno,everythingisgreat.Theyfixedeverything.I

justthoughtyouwouldfindthisinteresting.There’sneveradullmomentaround

here.Anyway,Ishouldletyougo.Haveagoodtimeatthestrategysession.”

Question:Howoftendoesthishappentoyou?

Whatdoyoudoiffiveminutesintoaconversationyouarestillunclearonwhat

thepersonneedsyoutodo?Howmucheffortdoyouspendtryingtoworkout

whattodowiththeinformation?

Tip:Ifyoufindyourselfinthissituation,andmorethanaminutehas

elapsedwithoutthepurposeoftheconversationbeingclear,askthespeaker

toclarifyhisorherintentions.Thiswillhelpyoubothgetthemostoutof

theconversation.

INTENTCHANGESTHEWAYOURBRAINSPROCESS

INFORMATION

Ourbrainsprocessandstoreinformationindifferentwaysdependingonthe

purpose.Weprocessinformationindifferentwaysifweknowitisentertainment

versusatopicweneedtolearn.Weonlyhaveabouttwentysecondsofrecallin

ourworkingmemory. Thattimeenablesustosortthroughinformationand

workoutwhattodowithit.This,inturn,defineshowtheinformationisstored

inourbrains.Ifaspeakertakesmorethantwentysecondstoclarifyhisorher

intent,ourbrainsstopprocessingthefirstthingthepersonsaidandtrytoprocess

themostrecenttwentysecondsofinformation.

Whenwedon’tknowtheotherperson’sintention,westruggletoprocessthe

informationprovided.Thisisevenharderifthemessagecontainsamixofgood

andbadnews.Thelackofclearintentleadstosomethingofaconversational

rollercoasteraswetrytofollowthetwistsandturnsofthetopic.

ForEmma,therollercoasterstartedwhenDanielsaidtherewasaproblem,and

shestartedtothinkaboutcontingencyplans.Withoutaclearintent,herbrain

assumedtherewasanissuetoresolve.Shewasthinkingaboutactionstotake

whenshedidn’tneedtobe.Inthiscase,theonlyimpactwasadelayforEmma

leavingforhermeeting.Itcouldhavebeenmuchworse.Ifshehadleftforthe

meetingwithoutDanielclarifyingwhatsheneededtodowiththeinformation,

thestrategywithTechCorpcouldhavechangedwithuntoldconsequencesfor

bothcompanies.

Thelongerittakesfortheaudiencetounderstandthepurposeofthemessage,

themorelikelytheyaretoguess.Thismeanstheaudienceisnotprocessingthe

informationinthewayyouwantorneedthemto.Worsethanthat,whenthe

audiencedoesn’tknowwhattodowithinformation,theirbrainsdon’tretainitas

easilyandmaylabelitasunimportant.

Byclarifyingyourintentinthefirstfewlinesofyourmessage,yougiveyour

audiencethekeytocorrectlyinterpretingandreactingtotheinformation.

SHOWINGINTENTINONELINE

Mostwork-relatedintentionsfallintooneoffivecategories.Foreachcategory,

itispossibletodescribetheintentofthemessageinoneline.Thetablebelow

showsthecategoriesandsomeexamplesofhowtoshowintentinashort

sentence.

CategoryofIntention Examples

Needinghelp/advice/input Canyouhelpme?Weneedyourinput.Ineedsomeadvice.Canyouexplainsomething?

Requestingaction CanyouprovideanupdateonABC?CanyousendthecontracttoZoe?

Wantingadecision WeneedadecisiononXYZ.

Lettingsomeoneknowsomethingisabouttohappen,sotheyarenotsurprised Headsup,somethingisabouttohappenonABC.Youneedtoknowthisbeforeyoutalktotheclient.

Providinginformation/inputtheotherpersonaskedforpreviously Here’sthereportyouaskedfor.Here’stheinformationyourequested.

Thislistofcategoriesmayseemshort,butalmosteverythingwecommunicateat

workfallsintooneofthem.Forexample:

Ifyouaretellingsomeoneaboutanissueorproblem,whatdoyouexpecthimor

hertodowiththeinformation?Youeitherneedhelp,advice,someonetotake

action,oryouaregivingtheotherpersonaheads-up.

Ifyouareabouttosubmitanorderforofficesupplies,youmightasksomeone

fortheitemstheywanttoadd.Thisisarequestforaction.

Aswithprovidingcontext,itonlytakesafewwordstomakeyourintentclear.

Usingalineliketheonesshowninthetablewillletyouraudienceknowwhat

theyneedtodowiththeinformation.

Ifallyourinteractionsatworkstartedwithashortstatementofintent,itwould

becleareverytimewhatyouneededtheaudiencetodowiththeinformation.It

wouldalsohelpthemdecideiftheyhavetimefortheconversationorifthey

wanttotalkaboutitlaterinstead.

Whatifyoujustwanttotalk?

Thereisonemorereasonyoumightwanttotalktosomeonethatisn’tinthe

table:wantingtochat.Thiscoversawiderangeoftopics,includingsharing

stories,recountingrecentevents,gossiping,lettingoffsteamwithoutany

expectationofadviceorhelp,andgeneralconversationsunrelatedtowork.

Ifyouaregoingtotalkaboutsomethinginthe“wantingtotalk”category,

considershowingyourintentusingastatementlike:

“Ihaveafunnystorytoshare...”

“Youmightfindthisinteresting...”

Youcanalsoaskaquestioninsteadofmakingastatement.

“Doyouhavetimeforafunnystory?”

“WouldyouliketoknowwhathappenedwithXYZ?”

“CanIventforaminute?”

Intheearlierexample,Emmadidn’tknowwhattodowiththeinformation

Danielwasgivingher.Intheend,shehadtoask,“IstheresomethingspecificI

canhelpwith?”Danielcouldhaveshownhisintentandsetexpectationsfor

Emmawithalinelike,“IhadacrazymorningwithTechCorp.Wouldyouliketo

hearaboutit?”Evensomethingassimpleas“It’snoturgent”or“Hey,funny

story...”wouldhavemadeitcleartherewasn’tanissue.Anyofthese

statementswouldhavesavedEmmatenminutesofworryandgivenhera

chancetodefertheconversationuntilaftertheplanningmeeting.

COMBININGCONTEXTANDINTENT

Whenyougiveintentandcontextatthestartofaconversation,itisclearwhat

theconversationwillbeabout.Inthepreviousexample,Danielprovidedgreat

contextbyaskingtotalkaboutTechCorp.Unfortunately,hefailedtoclarifythe

purposeoftheconversation.

Hereisanexampleofhowhecouldhaveprovidedaclearcontextandintentat

thestart.

“Hi,canItalktoyouaboutTechCorp?It’snoturgent,butIthoughtyoumight

finditfunny.”

Thisisshort,simple,andclear.Emmacouldhaveevaluatedthetopicand

decidedtolistenortodefertheconversationtoalatertime.

Let’slookattheexamplesofcontextfromtheprevioussectionandaddsome

intentstatements.

“I’mworkingonprojectABC.Ineedyouradvice.”

“I’mworkingonprojectABC.Weneedtomakeadecision.”

“Iwasreviewingthenewinformationsecuritypolicy.There’ssomethingyou

needtoknow.”

“We’reclosingthesaleontheJeffersonaccount.I’vegotsomegoodnews.”

“I’mabouttosubmitarequestfortimeoffforanditneedsyourapproval.”

“IreadthemarketingreportyousentmeandIthinkwehaveanopportunity.”

“Theofficesuppliesarrivedandthere’saproblemwiththedelivery.”

“Thenewbudgetcameout.Here’sthesummaryreport.”

“Iwanttorewardmyteam.Canyouhelpme?”

“I’mplanningtheofficepartyandyoushouldknow...”

“Thekitchensinkisleaking!Canyouhelpme?”

Thelongestoftheseexamplesisfifteenwords,andtheshortestisonlynine.

Thatmeansinlessthantenwordsyoucanprepareyouraudiencetobeinthe

rightframeofmindtohearyourmessage.

Imagineifeveryinteractionatworkstartedwithoneofthesentencesabove.It

wouldbecleareverytimewhattheaudiencecouldexpectfromtherestofthe

conversation.Theywouldimmediatelybeintherightframeofmindtoreceive

theinformationyouneedtoshare.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Takeanotherlookattheemailyouusedinthepreviousactivities.Istheintent

clear?Isitstated?Isitimplied?Orisitmissing?

Iftheintentisimpliedormissing,therecipientmightnothaveunderstood

exactlywhyyousenttheemailtothem.Ifyoucouldwritetheemailagain,what

wouldyouchangetomakeyourintentclearer?

KEYMESSAGE

“Simpleandtothepointisalwaysthebestwaytogetyourpointacross.”

—GuyKawasaki

Havingprovidedcontextandclearlystatedyourintent,it’stimetodeliveryour

keymessage.

Yourkeymessageisthelinethatcontainsthemostimportantpieceof

informationyouraudienceneedstoknow.Thekeymessagedoesn’thaveto

summarizeeverydetailofthetopicyouwanttotalkabout,butitdoeshavetobe

themostimportantmessageyouneedtocommunicate.

Ifyou’veeverfoundyourselflisteningtosomeoneandwondering,“Whyare

theytellingmethis?”itmaybebecausetheyhadn’tmadetheirintentclear,butit

couldalsobebecausetheyhaven’tgivenyouthekeymessageearlyenough.

Deliveringcriticalinformationearlyinyourcommunicationisanimportantpart

ofbeingagoodcommunicator.ThefollowingexamplewillshowyouwhatI

mean.

Notlongafterlearningtodrive,IpurchasedanoldBMW.Itwasaterrible

decision.Thatoldcarhadsomanyproblems,itwasinthegaragemoreoften

thanitwasontheroad.Wheneveritbrokedown,Ihadthecartowedtothesame

garageandhadthesamemechanicworkonit.Notonlywasheabletofix

anything,healsoknewhowtocommunicatethethingshiscustomerscared

aboutmost.

Aftercheckingoutthecauseofthelatestbreakdown,hewouldgivemethe

news.HeknewthethingIcaredaboutmost.It’sthesamethinganyonecares

mostaboutwhentheircarisinthegarage.Howmuchwillitcost,andhowlong

willIbewithoutmycar?Hedidn’trunthroughthelonglistofworkhehadto

doorgivemealistofpartsthatneededreplacing.Hestartedwiththetotalcost

torepairandhowlongitwouldtaketocomplete.Hence,Ialwaysknewthemost

importantinformationatthestartoftheconversation.

Aftergivingmethepriceandthetimeframetodotherepairs,hewouldtalk

throughasmuchdetailasIwanted.He’danswermyquestionsandgiveoptions

tomakethetimetorepairitshorterorthecostlower.Theseconversations

allowedmetogettothelevelofunderstandingIneededtojustifythecost.Iwas

abletofocusonthedetailoftheseconversationsbecauseIalreadyknewthekey

message.Iftheconversationsweretheotherwayaround,withthedetailsfirst,I

wouldn’thavewantedthedetail.Iwouldhavebeendistracted,wonderingwhat

thetotalcostwouldbe.

Ilearnedtwoimportantlessonsfromowningthatcar:

Don’tbuyanoldcar.

Peopleusuallywanttoknowthekeymessageupfront.

YousawanexampleofthisinmycorridorconversationwithSteveinregardto

theLT-10testing.Thekeymessagewasthedelayandthemisseddeadline.That

wasthe“Sowhat?”,themostimportantinformationIneededtoknow.

Everythingelsehesaidrelatedtoandbuiltuptothatonekeymessage.Ifthat

keymessagehadcomeatthestartoftheconversation,Iwouldhavebetter

understoodtherestofthedetail.

Onesignthatyouarenotgivingaclearkeymessageisifpeoplerespondwith

thefollowingquestionsorphrases:

“Whyareyoutellingmethis?”

“Istheresomethingyouneedmetodo?”

“I’mnotsurewhattodowiththatinformation.”

“Sowhat?”

Theresponseyougetmaynotbeexactlythesewords,butiftheysaysomething

similar,it’sastrongindicatoryouhaven’tgivenaclearkeymessage.

Thistypeofresponsecanalsomeantheintentofyourmessageisn’tclear,but

evenwithaclearintent,youraudiencecanbeconfusedifyourkeymessageisn’t

obvious.Forexample,ifyoumakeyourintentclearwithastatementlike“Ineed

someadvice”butthenstarttalkingwithouthavingaclearkeymessage,your

audiencewillnotknowwhatyouneedadviceabout.

Sometimesyouraudiencemayrepeatyourmessagebacktoyouinoneortwo

lines.Thiscouldbeasignofactivelisteningtechniques.Itcouldalsomeanyour

messagewasn’tclear,andtheyaretryingtomakesenseofit.Ifyouraudience

summarizesyourmessage,andtheyhaven’tunderstoodwhatyouintended,

clarifythekeymessagebeforeprovidinganynewinformation.Continuingthe

conversationwithyouraudiencehavinganincorrectkeymessageguarantees

confusionlateron.Iftheirsummarymakesyouthink,“Yes,that’swhatImeant

tosay,”itindicatesthekeymessagecouldhavebeenclearer.Inthiscaseyou

don’tneedtorestateyourmessage;youcanconfirmtheyhavetheright

understandingandthencontinue.

AnyonefamiliarwithcommunicationintheUnitedStatesmilitarywillhave

comeacrossthetermBLUF.Thisacronymstandsfor“BottomLineUpFront.”⁷

Thisisthepracticeofputtingtheconclusionandrecommendationatthe

beginningofthemessageratherthanattheend.Thisfacilitatesrapiddecision

makingandhelpspeopledeliveramessageinfewerwords.Puttingthebottom

lineupfrontisagreatwaytodefinethekeymessage.It’stheonethingyour

audienceneedstoknoworcaresthemostabout.

Thequestionslistedabovecanbeusefultohelpyoupreparefortalkingto

someone.Whenframingamessage,askyourselfthefollowingquestions:Why

amItellingthemthis?IstheresomethingIneedthemtodo?Iftheanswers

aren’tcleartoyou,theycertainlywon’tbecleartoyouraudience.These

questionscanalsohelpidentifyifyoureallyneedtocommunicatesomethingor

ifyoujustwanttotalk,gossip,orletoffsteam.Ifyoujustwanttotalk,make

suretoframetheconversationwiththatintent,soyouraudienceisn’ttryingto

workoutwhattheyneedtodowiththeinformation.

HOWTOCREATEGOODKEYMESSAGES

Beforeyoustarttalkingorwritinganemail,thinkaboutallthedetailsyoucould

share,andthenimagineyouraudienceasking“Sowhat?”

Oftentheanswertothisquestionisasimpledescriptionofthemostimportant

andimpactfulpartofyourtopic.

“Sowhat?”doesn’talwaysmeandescribingwhathappened.Itmightmean

statingtheconsequencesofanevent.Oftentheimplicationsaremoresignificant

thantheeventitself.Ifthatistrue,theimpactmightbethekeymessage.

Let’slookatsomeexamplestoseehowthisworks.

Example#1

“IwastalkingtoAnneandshetoldmethingsaregoingwellwiththeDavison

Group.Theyhavesomeconcernsaboutourabilitytohandletheirnewest

products.It’snothingwecan’tworkouttogether,andtheyagreedtocontinue.

Apparently,theylikedourpresentationandwouldliketosignadealfor$50

million.Ethanissendingoverthepaperworknow,andit’llallbedonebythe

endoftheday.”

Inthisexample,thekeymessagewasclosingthedealwithabignewclient.All

theeventsandinformationleadinguptothatwerelessimportantandburiedthe

goodnews.Themostimportantpieceofinformationintheupdateisthesigning

ofahigh-valueclient.Thisshouldbestatedfirst,nothiddentowardtheend.

Keymessage=WeareclosingtheDavisonGrouptoday.

Ifthisconversationstartedwiththenewsaboutclosingthenewclient,therestof

theinformationwouldhavehadmoremeaning.Theaudiencecouldhaveshared

intheexcitementinsteadofwonderingwherethestorywasleading.

Thisexampleishowmanyeverydayconversationsoccur.Weshareinformation,

includingthehighsandlowsandthetwistsandturnsofthestory.Ourstories

alsotendtocomeoutintheorderthattheeventsoccurred.Bysharingeventsin

theorderthattheyhappened,weautomaticallyleavetheoutcome(theresult,and

usuallythemostimportantthing)untiltheend.Thiscanturnasimpleupdate

intoarambling,long-windedstory.

Inaddition,whenwetalkthroughthehighsandlows,weleadtheaudience

throughthemtoo.Whentheaudiencedoesn’tknowhowthestoryends,theyfeel

eachhighorlowasifitwerethepotentialoutcome.

Example#2

“Wewereworkingonthesystemenhancementsthesalesteamaskedforlast

month.Wereleasedapatchlastnighttotestthenewdatabaseconnections,but

somethingdidn’twork.Nowthesalesteamcan’tusethesystem.Itmightbea

problembecausewethinkitwilltakesometimetofix,maybeaweek.”

Inthisexample,thekeymessageisthelossofthesalessystemforaweek.

Everythingelseisbackgrounddetailaboutthehowandthewhyofthesituation.

Theaudiencemayaskquestionsabouthowthishappened,butfirst,theyneedto

knowthe“Sowhat?”

Keymessage=Thesalessystemisdown,anditwilltakeuptoaweektofix.

Afifty-seven-worddescriptioncancondenseintothirteenwords.Notonlyisthe

messagedeliveredfaster,theimportantinformationisclearer.

Thisexampleisshort.Itonlytakeshalfaminutetosayallfifty-sixwordsinthe

originalversion,anditdoesn’ttakelongtogettothepoint.Butwhatwouldhave

happenedifitwerelonger?Howlongwouldittakeforyoutowonderwhatthe

pointofthemessagewas?

Thinkabouttheconversationsyou’vehadatworkthathavetakentwo,five,or

eventenminutestogettothepoint.Howoftendoyouhavetowaitalongtime

beforeyouunderstandthe“Sowhat?”ofthemessage?Doanyofyour

conversationstakelongerthannecessarytogettothepoint?Ifyes,tryframing

thetopicandputtingthekeymessageinthefirstfifteenseconds.

Onemoreexample.Itshowstheconversationrollercoastercausedbynothaving

aclearkeymessage.

“Myauntfelldownandbrokeherarm.She’sOK,andmybrotherisgoingto

staywithherforafewweekstohelpheraroundthehouse.He’sabletodothat

becauseheworksfromhome,sohecankeepworkingwhileatherhouse.The

thingis,withhimaway,hiswifecan’tleavethehouseeasilybecausetheyonly

haveonecar.It’salsohalftermnextweek.Mybrother’swifeusuallylooksafter

mydaughterduringthedayduringtheholidays,soIcanwork.So,yousee,my

sister-in-lawisn’tabletopickupmydaughterfromschool,andIhavenooneto

lookafterher.Ontopofthat,mywifeisawaywithherworktoo.I’vealready

deliveredmostoftheworkonthecurrentproject,andI’vetalkedtoEmma,who

saidshecanhandleeverythingelse.So,canItakenextweekoffwork?”

Wow,that’squiteasituation.Youmayhaveworkedoutwhatwashappeningby

abouthalfwaythrough,butitwasn’tconfirmeduntilthelastline.Theentire

messagecouldbesummarizedas“CanIpleasetakenextweekoffwork?”Then

thebackgrounddetailcouldbegiven.

Keymessage=CanIpleasetakenextweekoffwork?

Hopefully,mostmanagersinthissituationwouldbesympathetic,butuntilthey

knowthediscussionisarequestfortimeoffwork,there’snothingtohelpthem

assessthelargequantityofinformation.Theyarecaptivesontheconversation

rollercoasteruntilthespeakergetstothepoint.Ifthepersonspeakinghadstarted

withthekeymessageaboutwantingtimeoff,hemayhavegottenaquick“yes”

fromthemanagerandbeenabletogetonwithhisday.

Herearesomemoreexamplesofconcisekeymessagestatementsfromcommon

workplacesituations.Eachoneisasummaryofamuchlargertopic,butthe“So

what?”isinasingleline.Alltheexplanationsandjustificationshavebeen

strippedout.Onlythecoremessageremains.

“Wejustclosedanewclient.”

“Theteambeattheservice-leveltarget.”

“Ourmostexperienceddeveloperisleaving.”

“Thesystemisdown,anditwilltakeaweektofix.”

“Weareoverbudget.”

“Wewillfinishearly.”

“Imissedadeadline,andthecustomerisupset.”

“Theclientisaskingformoretime.”

“Youhavebeennominatedforanaward.”

Theseexamplesshowthatthekeymessagecanbepositiveornegative.Aslong

asthemessageincludesthemostimportantpoint,youaredoingwell.

Framingsetsuptheconversationyouwanttohave,butitdoesn’treplaceit.You

willstillhaveaconversationinwhichyoucansharethebackgrounddetail.But

justlikemycarmechanicknew,thereisalwaystimetogointodetailafter

givingthekeymessage.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Lookagainattheemailyouusedinthepreviousactivities.Isthekeymessage

clear?Isitatornearthetopoftheemail?Haveyouexplicitlystatedthemost

importantpieceofinformation,ordoestherecipientneedtopieceittogether?

Whatwouldyouaddorchangetomakethemessageclearinthefirstfewlines?

PuttingItAllTogether

“Tellmewhatyouaretalkingabout.Tellmewhyyouaretalkingaboutit.And

please,please,please,gettothepoint.”

—Annonymous

Sofar,we’vecoveredthethreecomponentsofframing:context,intent,andkey

message.You’veseenhoweachcomponentdeliversvaluableinformation,but

individuallytheydon’tdeliveracompletemessage.

Thissectionshowshowtoputallthreecomponentstogetherintosuccinct

framingstatementsthatwillhelpyoustartyourworkconversationsquicklyand

clearly.Thisisassimpleasitsounds.Takethethreesentencesyou’vecreated

foryourmessage,andputthemtogetherinoneortwolines.

Namethetopic+Describetheintent+Gettothepoint

Let’stakealookatsomeexamples.

Example#1

Context:I’mworkingontheJeffersonaccount.

Intent:I’vegotgoodnews.

Keymessage:Wejustgotthemasanewclient.

Example#2

Context:Ireadthereportyousentme.

Intent:Canyouexplainsomething?

Keymessage:Iwanttounderstandthechangeintimeline.

Example#3

Context:IreviewedthenewITpolicy.

Intent:Ineedyoutotakeaction.

Keymessage:Ourfirewallisnolongercompliant.

Example#4

Context:Iwanttorewardmyteam.

Intent:Youshouldknow...

Keymessage:I’mgoingtospendtheentirebonusbudget.

Example#5

Context:I’mworkingonprojectABC.

Intent:Youshouldknow...

Keymessage:Wemissedadeadline,butthecustomersaidit’sOK.

Example#6

Context:Thekitchensinkisleaking.

Intent:Ineedyourhelp.

Keymessage:Canyoucallaplumber?

Eachoftheseexamplesislessthantwentywordsandtakesnomorethanfifteen

secondstosay.Eachincludesaclearcontext,aclearintentforthemessage,and

akeymessagethatpassesthe“Sowhat?”test.

Nowthatweknowhowtoframeatopictostartaconversationwell,let’sreview

theoriginalexamplewithSteveandthetestingdelayontheLT-10program.

We’llseehowframingcouldhavehelpedhimdeliveraclearmessageinonlya

fewseconds.

Asaquickrecap,Stevestoppedmeonmywaytolunch.Hetalkedforafew

minutesbeforeIhadtoaskwhatthetopicwasandwhatheexpectedofme.In

theend,Stevegavethekeymessagethatwewouldmissacriticallaunch

deadline.

Context:I’mtestingtheLT-10.

Intent:Wehaveaproblem.

KeyMessage:We’regoingtofinishamonthlaterthanplanned.

IfStevehadusedthis,oranythingsimilar,Iwouldhaveunderstoodthetopic

rightatthestart.

Withframing,mostmessagescanbedeliveredfasterandwithgreaterclarity.

Framingisasimpleconcept,butittakespracticetouseitwithconfidence.Start

usingframingtoday.Itmayfeelawkwardatfirst,butyouraudiencewill

appreciateit.Themoreyouuseframing,themorecomfortableyou’llbecome

withthetechnique,anditwon’tbelongbeforeyoureaptherewardsofmore

effectivecommunication.

Ifyou’reconcernedaboutthefewminutesitmighttaketocomeupwithgood

framing,considerthis:thosetwominuteswillbepaidbackimmediately.You’ll

haveashorterdiscussionwithlesschanceofconfusion,andyou’llhavean

audiencewhounderstandswhatyouwantthemtodo.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Takeafinallookattheemailyou’vebeenworkingoninthepreviousactivities.

Writeoutanewversionofthestartoftheemailusingtheframingmethod.Does

theemailmakemoresensewithaclearerintroduction?Canitbeshorter?

Ifyouroriginalemailalreadyhadthethreecomponentsofframing,welldone;

you’reonyourwaytobecomingagreatcommunicator.Ifyouonlyhadsomeor

perhapsnoneoftheelementsofframing,hopefullyyoucannowseethebenefit

ofthisapproachandhoweasyitistomakeaclearstarttoyourcommunication.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Identifythenexttopicyouneedtocommunicatetoyourteam,boss,or

colleagues.Writedownafewshortlinesthatincludethecontext,intent,andkey

message.Onceyouhavetheframingwrittendown,youcantakeitwithyouand

useittostarttheconversation.

KEEPSEPARATETOPICSSEPARATE

“Youcanonlyaddorcombinetwothingsiftheyareofthesamekind”

–SteveDemme

Manyofourworkconversationsincludemorethanonetopic.Whileitonly

takesalittlethoughtandorganizationtostartaconversationclearlywithasingle

topic,itishardertobeclearwhentalkingaboutmultipletopics.

Whentwoormoretopicsarecombinedinasingleconversation,theriskof

confusionincreasesexponentially,andtheneedforclearframingisevenmore

important.Youmayhaveexperiencedthisconfusionifyou’veeverhadtoask

someone“Arewestilltalkingabout[inserttopic],orhavewemovedonto

somethingnew?”Confusionoverwhetheraconversationhasmovedtoanew

topicisaclearindicatortheconversationwasn’twellframed.

Uptothispoint,everythinginthisbookhasrelatedtoframingasingletopic.

Singletopicsonlyhaveonecontext,oneintent,andonekeymessage.

Conversationswithtwoormoretopicscanhavemultiplecontexts,different

intentsforeachtopic,andavarietyofkeymessages.Withoutawell-structured

start,theseconversationscanquicklygetofftrack,mixupcriticalinformation,

ormissimportantpoints.

Acommonexampleofmixingtopicshappensinemails,anditissomething

manyofushaveexperienced.Haveyoueversentanemailwithtwoormore

questionsandbeenfrustratedwhentherespondentonlyanswersoneofthe

questions?Ourtendencyistoblametheotherpersonfornotreadingtheemail

properly.Thenwehavetospendtimegoingbackandforthwithadditional

emailsorphonecallstryingtogetalltheanswerswewant.

Insteadofblamingtheotherperson,weshouldtakealookatouroriginalemail.

Didwewriteitinawaythatmadeitclearthatwehadmultiplequestions?Were

thequestionseasilydistinguishablefromtheothertextinthemessage,orwere

theyburiedinthemiddleofparagraphs?Oftenthecauseofgettingan

incompleteanswerisbecauseourquestionswerenotwellstructured,anditwas

notobvioustotheaudiencethatthemessagecontainedmultiplequestions.

Ifit’seasytomixuptopicsinanemailwhentherecipienthastimetoreadit

morethanonce,howmuchharderisittokeeptrackofmultipletopicsina

conversationthat’shappeninginrealtime?

Inreality,manyofourworkconversationsinvolvemorethanonetopic,andthis

canleadtoconfusion.Byframingtheconversationcorrectly,it’seasierto

includemultipletopicswhilealsoloweringtheriskofconfusion.

HOWTOTELLIFYOUHAVEMORETHANONETOPIC

Thethreepartsofframingnotonlyhelpclarifythestartofyourmessage,they

canalsohelpyouseeifyouhavemorethanonetopicforyourconversation.

Startwithcontext.Ifyoucandefineaseparatecontextforeachtopic,youhave

twoseparatetopicstoframe.Ifyouwanttotalkabouttwodifferentprojects,

clients,orsituations,thenyouhavetwotopics.

Morethanonecontext=morethanonetopicofconversation=morethan

oneframing

Ifyouhavereviewedthecontextandhaveonlyonetopic,lookatyourintent.If

youneedtwodifferentactionsfromyouraudience,youhavetwotopics.You

cannothaveatopicthatisanFYIandalsorequiresanactionordecision.These

aretwodifferentintents,andyoushouldpreparetwodifferentmessages.

Morethanoneintent=morethanonepurposefortheconversation=more

thanoneframing

Ifyouhaveasinglecontextandasingleintent,youalmostalwaysneedonlya

singleframing.Anexampleofthisisifyouneedtogiveanupdateontwoor

moreitemsinasingletopic.

“Hi,Boss.We’vecompletedthefilingaudit.Thereareonlyacoupleofthings

youmightwanttoknow.First,nothingneedsyourattention;Joannasignedoff

onthereport.Also,we’reborrowingsomeinternsfromlegaltohelpusfinish

tidyingthefiles.Larry,theVPofLegal,saiditwasfine.”

Inthisexample,thecontextwasafilingaudit,andtheintentwasgivingacouple

ofupdates.Thekeymessagehadtwoparts:1)gettingtheauditreportsignedoff

and2)borrowingtheinterns.Thekeymessageswereseparate,buttheyboth

relatedtothesamecontextandintent.

Moreoftenthannot,twokeymessageswillneedtwodifferentframings.Thisis

becausetheyhavedifferentintents.Ifyoufailtoseparatetopicsinyour

conversation,itcanleadtowhatIcallan“ambush.”

Anambushoccurswhenadiscussionisframedwithoneintent,butthekey

messagerelatestoadifferentintent.Thespeakerpreparestheaudiencetodoone

thingandthenasksthemtodosomethingdifferent.Thefilingauditexample

abovecouldhavebecomeanambushwithaslightchangetoonekeymessage.

“Hi,Boss.We’vecompletedthefilingaudit.Thereareonlyacoupleofthings

youmightwanttoknow.First,nothingneedsyourattention;Joannasignedoff

onthereport.Also,we’reborrowingsomeinternsfromlegaltohelpusfinish

tidying.CanyoucheckwithLarry,theVPofLegal,toseeifthat’sOK?”

Theintentofthismessagewassetas“thingsyoumightwanttoknow,”butit

finishedwitharequesttoaskLarryaquestion.Afterhearingtheoriginalintent,

therecipientwouldn’tbeexpectingtherequesttotalktotheVPofLegal.While

thismaybeasmallthing,noonelikessurpriserequestsoractions.The

conversationshouldhavebeenframedastwotopics,anupdateandarequestfor

help.

Youmayrecognizetheseambushesifyouhaveeverthought“Wait,what?”after

someonefinishedtalking.Thiscanoccurwhentheinformationyoureceive

doesn’tmatchwhatyouexpectedtohear.Sometimesthishappensbecausethe

informationissurprising.Moreoftenit’sbecausetheconversationwasn’twell

framed.

Tobecertainyoudon’thavemorethanonetopictoframe,checkyourkey

message.Aretwoormoremessagescombinedintothekeymessage?Dothe

differentkeymessageshavethesamecontextandintent?Ifyes,createa

separateframingforeachtopictoensurethemessagesareclearforyour

audience.

Morethanonekeymessageusuallymeansmorethanoneframing.

HOWTOKEEPTWOTOPICSSEPARATE

Conversationswithmultipletopicscanbeframedwithasummaryframing.This

techniqueusesthesameprinciplesdescribedinchaptertwo.

First,createthebasicframingforeachtopicyouwanttotalkabout.Remember,

separatetopicsrequireseparateframings.Then,onceyouhavetheseparate

framingforeachtopic,createasinglesummaryframingfortheentire

conversation.

Thisapproachframestheoverallconversation,preparingtheaudiencefor

differenttopics.Eachtopicisthenaddressedoneatatimeasaseparate

conversation.Eachseparateconversationisframedandthencontinuesuntilthe

topiciscomplete.Theoverallconversationthenmovesontotheframingforthe

secondtopicandsoonuntilallthetopicshavebeendiscussed.

Atthestartofthediscussion,theaudienceknowstheywilltalkaboutmultiple

topics.Duringtheconversationthetopicsarekeptseparate,eachintroduced

clearlywithframing.Thismakesitmucheasierfortheaudiencetomentally

shiftcontextsbetweentopics.

Howtoframemultiple,separatetopicsinoneconversation

Example:

Timothyhadthreetopicstotalktohisteamleaderabout.

Adviceabouthowtohandleaproblemwitharecentdelivery

Adecisionaboutnominatingacolleagueforanaward

Adecisionaboutsometimeoff

Timothyknewhisteamleaderwasbusy,sohewantedtobeasclearandconcise

aspossible.Here’showhecombinedthemintoasingleframing:

Context:I’dliketotalktoyouaboutthreethings.

Intent:Ineedsomeadvice,andIhaveacoupleofdecisions.

Keymessage:Wehaveanissuewiththeofficesupplydelivery.I’dliketo

nominateDaveforanaward,andIhavearequestforsometimeoff.

Whenframingmultipletopics,thecontextistheneedtotalkaboutmultiple

topics.Thisoftentripspeopleupbecausetheyexpectthistobemorecomplex.

Keepitsimple.Ifyouaregoingtotalkaboutmorethanonetopic,makethat

cleartoyouraudience.Theintentisacombinationofthedifferenttopicintents

combinedintoasinglesentence.Thekeymessageisacombinationofthe

differentkeymessagesforeachtopic.

Youdon’tneedtoaimforthe“lessthantwentyword”target.Youshouldalso

expecttousemorewordswhenframingmultipletopics.

Thisapproachhasmultiplebenefitsforyouandyouraudience.

Ithelpsyoulogicallyorganizethetopicsyouwanttotalkabout.Thiswillkeep

themseparateandhelppreventconfusion.

Theaudiencecanquicklyabsorbthedifferenttopicsandevaluatetheonethey

wanttocoverfirst.

Intoday’stime-limitedworkplace,youraudiencemayhavetimeforonlyone

topic.Theymayalsohaveaparticularinterestorneedtotalkaboutoneofthe

topicsaheadoftheothers.Byframingtheentireconversation,it’seasierto

selectwhichtopicstotalkaboutandwhichordertotalkaboutthem.

HOWTOFRAMEMULTIPLETOPICSWITHTHESAMECONTEXT

Weoftenhavemorethanonepointtomakeormorethanonerequestrelatedtoa

singlecontext.Thisisthesituationmostlikelytocauseconfusionbecauseit’s

easytomixthetopicsintoeachother.Framingaconversationtoseparatethe

topicswithinonecontexthelpskeepseparatetopicsseparate.

Example:

Andreaisaclaimsadjusterforaninsurancecompany.Herteamrecentlystarted

workinanewregion,andshewantstoupdateherbossonthepreviousweek’s

events.Twotopicsareatthetopofherlist,andshehaspreparedtheframingfor

eachtopic.

Topic#1

Context:Newregionroll-out.

Intent:Heads-up/FYI.

KeyMessage:Thefull-timeteamisexceedingalltheirkeyperformance

indicators(KPIs).

Topic#2

Context:Newregionroll-out.

Intent:Needadecision.

KeyMessage:Shouldwecancelthecontractforadditionalstaff?

Havingpreparedbothframings,Andreafeelstheconversationneedstostartwith

somethingtohelpmakeitclearthetopicsareseparate.Shecanseehowa

performanceupdaterelatestothecontractforadditionalstaffbutdoesn’twant

thetwotopicstobemixedup.Andreawantstomakesurethefull-timeteamis

recognizedforitsgreatperformance,andthattheKPIsaren’tseenasareasonto

cancelacontractforextrastaff.

Andreapreparesanintroductionfortheconversationthatsetsupbothtopics

withoutmixingthemup.

“Ihaveanupdateonthenewregionroll-outandhavetwotopicstodiscuss.One

isanFYIabouttheteam’sgreatperformance.Theotherneedsadecisionabout

theextrastaffing.”

Andreahascreatedanintroductionthatusesthethreecomponentsofframing.

Context:Anupdateabouttheregionalroll-outwithtwotopics

IntentandKeyMessage#1:AnFYIabouttheteam’sgreatperformance

IntentandKeyMessage#2:Arequestforadecisionabouttheextrastaffing

Inthiscase,thecontextoftheconversationishavingtwotopicsrelatedtothe

regionalroll-out.TheintentisclearthatonetopicisanFYI,andtheotherneeds

adecision.Akeymessageisgivenwitheachintenttohelpseparatethetwo

topicsbeforeAndreastartsprovidingdetails.

Howtoframetwodifferenttopicswiththesamecontext

Whenstartingaconversationwithmultipletopicsrelatedtothesamecontext,

theconversationframingprovidesthesinglecontextforeverything.Afterthat,

youcancompletetheconversationframingwiththeseparateintentandkey

messagesforeachtopic.

Whenthesummaryiscomplete,youcandeliverFraming#1orFraming#2in

eitherorderdependingonthetopicyouoryouraudiencewouldliketodiscuss

first.Aftercompletingthefirstconversationtopic,givetheframingforthe

secondtopic,andcompletethatconversation.Thiskeepsthetwotopicsseparate

andpreventsconfusion.

Ifyouwanttobecertainyouraudienceknowsabouttheswitchbetweenthetwo

topics,addanadditionalstep.Referbacktothesummaryframingwhereyou

saidyouhadtwo(ormore)topicstodiscuss.Thiscallsbacktotheoriginal

conversationFraminghelpsorienttheaudiencetothechangeintopic.Theycan

mentallypreparetohearsomethingdifferent.Italsohasthebenefitofmaking

youseemorganized.

Howtocallbacktotheconversationframingbetweentopics

SometimeswegetsodeepinthedetailofTopic#1,weforgetthere’sasecond

topiconthelistofthingstotalkabout.Inthissituation,theuseofconversation

framingactsasasafetynet.Evenifyouforget,youraudiencemightremindyou

aboutthesecondtopic.Thissafetynetwillonlyhappenifyoumakeitclear

therearemultipletopicsatthestart.Forthesakeoftenseconds,youcanavoid

thefrustrationofwalkingawayfromaconversationrealizingyouhave

somethingelsestilltodiscuss.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Findarecentemailyou’vesentthatincludesmorethanonetopic.Isitclear

fromthestartthattheemailcontainsmorethanonetopic?Tryrewritingthefirst

partoftheemailtoclearlyframebothtopics.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Planthenextmulti-topicconversationyouwanttohavewithyourteam,apeer,

oramanager.Writedownthetopicsyouwanttodiscuss.Dotheyhavethesame

context,oraretheyseparate?Pickthemostappropriateframingmethod,and

thenwritedownthecontext,intent,andkeymessagestostarttheconversation.

Whenyouhaveagoodframing,youcanuseittohelpyoustayontrack.

FRAMINGCHAPTERSUMMARY

Congratulations!You’vemadeitthroughthesecondchapterofthisbookand

learnedthethreecorecomponentsofframing.

Context:Helpingtheaudiencefocusonthetopicyouwanttotalkabout

Intent:Makingitclearwhattheaudienceshoulddowiththeinformation

Keymessage:Theonelinethatsummarizesyourentiretopic

Youcannowframeasingleconversationtoincludeone,two,ormoretopics.

Evenifeachtopichasdifferentintentsandmessages,youcantalkaboutthemall

inthesameconversationwithamuchlowerriskofconfusion.

NEXTSTEPS

Framingstructuresthefirstfifteensecondsofyourconversation,butwhat

happensnext?Howdoyoustructuretherestofyourmessageifyouhavea

complextopic?Howdoyousummarizealargetopicintojustafewminutes?

Howdoyoustructureamessagewithmultiplevariablesoronewithadetailed

backstory?

Settingupaconversationforsuccessrequiresmorethanagreatintroduction.In

thenextchapter,youwilllearnaboutwhatIcall“structuredsummaries.”You

willdiscoverhowastructuredsummarycansummarizeanythinginlessthana

minutenomatterhowcomplexthetopic.Notonlyisastructuredsummary

succinct,thetechniquealsofocusestheconversationonthenextsteps.How

productivewouldyourconversationsandmeetingsbeifyoudidn’tneedto

reviewthehistoryofatopicbutcouldfocusonsolvingtheproblemsinstead?

Turnthepagetofindouthowthisworks.

Tip:Aneasywaytoremindyourselftousethesetechniquesatthestartof

yourworkconversationsandcommunicationistocreateavisualprompton

yourdesk.Writethethreecomponentsofframingonastickynote,andput

itonyourdeskornexttoyourcomputerscreen.Betterstill,downloada

printableversionfrommywebsite:www.chrisfenning.com/resources

CHAPTER3

STRUCTUREDSUMMARIES

“Mysummariesareoftenlongerthanmymainidea.”–Anonymous

Wouldn’titbegreatifwecouldstartconversationsaboutlargeandcomplex

topicsinawaythatwasalwaysclearandeasytounderstand?

Communicationcoursesoftentellustobeconcise,tostartwithasummaryof

thetopic,buttheyrarelyshowushowtocreatesuchasummary.It’sonethingto

knowyoushouldbedoingsomething.It’squiteanothertoknowhowtodoit.

ThesolutiontothisproblemistocreateastructuredsummaryusingwhatIcall

the“goal,problem,solution”method.

Ifyou’rewonderinghowthismethodhelpstointroduceatopic,takeanother

lookattheparagraphabove.Itwaswrittenusingthegoal,problem,solutionor

GPSmethod.

Goal:Wouldn’titbegreatifwecouldstartconversationsaboutlargeand

complextopicsinawaythatwasalwaysclearandeasytounderstand?

Problem:Communicationcoursestellustobeconcise,tostartwithasummary

ofthetopic,buttheyrarelyshowusexactlyhowtocreateasummary.It’sone

thingtoknowyoushouldbedoingsomething.It’squiteanothertoknowhowto

doit.

Solution:Thesolutiontothisproblemistocreateastructuredsummaryusing

whatIcallthe“goal,problem,solution”method.

Startingwithagoodsummaryiscriticaltocommunicatingclearly.Withouta

clearsummary,youraudiencehasnoframeofreferencefortheinformationyou

areabouttoshare.Thisiswherethingscanquicklygowrong,andweseesome

ofthefollowingcommunicationmistakes.

MISTAKE#1:Divingintothedetailtooquickly:

Divingintothedetailhappenswhensomeonetalksaboutatopicwithmultiple

supportingpointsandstartstalkingaboutthefirstpointingreatdetailbefore

givingasummaryofthewholetopic.Speakerswhoimmediatelydiveintothe

depthsofatopicquicklyconfuseandlosetheiraudience.Withoutahigh-level

summary,theaudiencedoesn’tknowhowthedetailofeachpointrelatestothe

maintopic.Itmightbethemostimportantpointortheleastimportantpoint;

onlythespeakerknowsforsure.Thiscanoccurformultiplereasons.

Aspeakerlistseventsintheordertheyhappened.

Thespeakerthinkstheaudienceneedstoknowallthedetailsbeforetheycan

understandtheintentorthekeymessage.

Thespeakerisunsureaboutthepurposeofhisorhermessage.Thespeakeris

notclearwhatactionheorshewantstheaudiencetotake.

MISTAKE#2:Goingoffontangents:

Listeningtosomeonerambleortalkaboutsomethingseeminglyunconnectedto

theoriginalpointoftheconversationisoneofthemostfrustratingandcommon

occurrencesintheworkplace.

MISTAKE#3:Dwellingonthepastinsteadofthenextsteps:

Howmuchtimeisspenttalkingaboutthehistoryofanissueinsteadoffocusing

ontheactionstofixit?Whensomethingbreaksorfails,wetendtospendalotof

timetalkingaboutthecauseoftheproblem.Meetingssetuptoaddresstheissue

spendupto80percentoftheallottedtimefocusedontheproblemandwhyit

happened.Onlyattheendofthemeeting,aftereveryonehashadtheirsay,does

thefocusshifttowhatneedstobedonenext.Bythispointthereisnotenough

timelefttohaveaproductivediscussionaboutthesolutiontotheproblem.This

isonereasonwhymeetingsoftenendwithanactiontosetupanothermeeting.

Mostcommunicationtrainingcoursesdescribetheseissues.Theyexplainwhy

thesetrapsshouldbeavoidedandevensuggestwaystoeludethem,suchas“Be

concise”or“Pickonetopictofocusonineachconversation.”Whatthecourses

don’tusuallyprovidearethespecifictoolsormethodsthatshowhowtobe

conciseorhowtoidentifytheonetopiconwhichthespeakerneedstofocus.

Thischapterdescribeshowtocreategreatsummariesusingthegoal,problem,

solutionmethod.Withthistechnique,youcanstartanyconversationwithclarity

nomatterhowcomplexthetopic.

Theprocesshasonlythreestepsandtakeslessthanforty-fivesecondstodeliver,

which,incidentally,makesuptheremainderofthefirstminute.

CREATEGREATSUMMARIES

Usingastructuredsummaryinthefirstminuteofyourconversationwillprovide

youraudiencewithaconcisesynopsisofwhattheyareabouttobetold,whatis

expectedofthem,andthenextstepsthatneedtobetaken.

ThestructuredsummarymethodthatIdescribeinthissectionhasasimple,

three-partformat.Withit,youcansummarizeanentiremessageinasfewas

threesentencesnomatterhowcomplexthetopic.Itdoesn’tmatterifyourfull

messagewilltakefiveminutesorfifty-fiveminutestodeliver;itcanstillbe

summarizedinlessthanaminute.

WHATAREWORKCONVERSATIONSREALLYABOUT?

Beforewecancreateagreatsummary,weneedtounderstandwhatmostwork

conversationsarereallyabout.

Afteryoutakeoutsocializingandentertainingconversations,mostwork

discussionsareaboutsolvingproblemsandovercomingchallenges.Itmaynot

beobviousthatworkisallaboutproblems,butit’strue.Allcompanieshave

goals,targets,anddeadlines,andmostofourdailyworkeffortisaboutmaking

surethosegoalsandtargetsaremet.Wedothisbyeitheravoidingorpreventing

problems.

Workproblemsrangefromtheday-to-day:

Theofficesuppliesarerunningout.

NotbeingabletogettimewithJanefromAccounting.

Thesalestargetsmustbemet.

Tothesignificant:

Theteamisn’tmeetingtheirkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs).

Theentirecustomersupportsystemisdown;weneedtofixit.

Totheenormous:

We’vewonthebidtohosttheOlympics.Nowweneedtomakeithappen!

Eachoftheseproblemscanbecomplexinitsownway.Eachhasdifferent

implications,challenges,andtimeframes.Itdoesn’tmatterhowcomplexor

mundaneatopicis;it’salwaysnecessarytoexplainitinawaythatpeoplecan

quicklyabsorbandunderstand.

Onceyouconsiderthatnearlyeveryworkconversationis,atitsheart,about

solvingaproblem,it’smuchsimplertocreateaframeworktosummarizeany

topicinanysituation.It’salsopossibletousethesameframeworktoavoidthe

communicationissuesdescribedearlierinthischapter.

Conversationsshouldnotfocusonproblems;theyshouldfocusonsolving

problems.

Ifthepurposeofourworkplaceconversationsistosolveproblems,our

communicationshouldbestructuredtofocusonclarifyingtheproblemand

gettingusclosertoasolution.Byremovingthecontextanddetailfromeach

worksituation,onlythreetypesofsituationsremainwhereyouhaveaproblem

andaneedtotalktosomeoneelseaboutit.

Youhaveaproblemandaneedtofindasolution.

Youhaveaproblemandarerecommendingasolution.

Youhadaproblem,ithasbeensolved,andyouarereportingtheoutcome.

Thislistdoesn’tincludethesituationwhereyouhaveaproblemandwantto

hideit,becauseit’sunderstoodthatyoushouldnevertrytohideawork-related

problem.

Whenthereareonlyafinitenumberofoptionsforwhatyouaretryingtoconvey

inaworkconversation,it’smucheasiertodefineamodelforhowtosummarize

them.

THEGOALPROBLEMSOLUTIONSTRUCTUREDSUMMARY

Thesimplestwaytosummarizeaproblemtopicistousethegoal,problem,

solutionmethod.Thisthree-partstructureprovidestheidealformatfor

summarizingandstartingworkplaceconversations.Itworksforsimpleand

complextopics.

Thethreepartsofthestructuredsummaryare:

Goal:Thegoalyouaretryingtoachieve

Problem:Theproblemthatispreventingyoufromreachingyourgoal

Solution:WhatI/we/youaregoingtodotosolvetheproblem

Goal,problem,solutionformsaneasy-to-rememberinitialism:GPS.Justlikethe

navigationaidwiththesamename,theGPSmethodisatooltohelpyoushow

otherswhereyouwanttogo,tohighlighttheobstaclesbetweenyouandyour

destination,andtodescribetheroutetogetthere.

ALLTHREEPARTSOFGPSARENEEDED

Goal,problem,andsolutionareseparateelementsthatmakeupyourmessage,

sodon’tcombinethem.

Goalandproblemarethemostcommonpartstogetmixedup.Peopleoftenfind

themselvesdescribingtheproblemaspartofthegoal.Itisalsocommontothink

thatthegoalistosolvetheproblemandcombinethesetwoelementsintoa

singlesentence.Goalandproblemaredifferentandshouldbetwodistinctitems

inyourmessage.Thegoaliswhatyouwanttoachieve.Theproblemiswhyyou

arehavingtroubleachievingit.

Example:

Goaliswhatyouaretryingtodoorachieve.

E.g.,Gettotheflag.

Problemiswhyyouarehavingtroubledoingorachievingit

E.g.,Anobstacleisintheway.

Solutioniswhatyouwilldotosolvetheproblemandreachthegoal.

E.g.,Buildabridgeovertheobstacle.

WHATTODOWHENTHESOLUTIONISUNKNOWN

Youdon’tneedtoknowthesolutiontotheproblemwhenyoustarta

conversation.

Doyourecallthethreetypesofproblemsituations?

Youhaveaproblemandneedtofindasolution.

Youhaveaproblemandarerecommendingasolution.

Youhadaproblemthathasbeensolved,andyouarereportingtheoutcome.

Ifyouareinscenario1anddon’thaveasolutiontoyourproblem,thepurposeof

theconversationisalmostcertainlytohelpyoufindorgetclosertofindinga

solution.Thisisthesimplestscenariotoaddress.Youstatethegoalandthe

problem,andthesolutionstatementcanbe“Canyouhelpmefindasolution?”

Askingforhelptofindthesolutionistheeasiestwaytohandlethisscenario,but

itisn’tthebestway.

Itisusuallybettertoproposesolutionsthantoaskforhelpwithnoideasofyour

own.Ifyoudon’thaveideasforasolution,youareaskingtheotherpersonto

solvetheproblemforyou.Ontheotherhand,ifyouhaveoneortwoideasfora

solution,evenifyoudon’tknowiftheyaretherightideas,youareaskingthe

otherpersonforadvice.Thedifferencebetweenaskingsomeonetodoextra

workandaskingthemforinsightandadviceissignificant.Noonelikesgetting

extrawork,butmostpeoplearehappytobeaskedfortheirexpertopinion.

Thereisnothingwrongwithaskingforhelp,butunlessyougenuinelyhaveno

ideahowtosolvetheproblem,youshouldtrytoproposeasolutionortwowhen

askingforadvice.

Proposingsolutionsissomethingthatdifferentiateshighperformers,they

regularlyaskforhelp,butusuallyhavesomeideasoftheirowntohelpstartthe

conversation.

KEEPITBRIEF

Remember,thestructuredsummaryisanintroductiontotheconversation;itis

nottheentireconversation.Thepurposeofthestructuredsummaryisnottopack

alltheinformationintoafewlines.It’saclear,concisewaytogiveyour

audienceanoverviewofwhatiscomingnext.

UsingtheGPSmethodtostructureyourintroductionmakesiteasyforyour

audiencetounderstandwhatishappeningandwhatyouneed.Itleadsyour

audiencethroughthekeypointsinalogicalorder,clearlystatingtheproblemto

solve,anditfinisheswithafocusonaction.

Let’stakealookatsomeexamples.

Givinggoodexamplesofstructureiseasy,butshowinghowtheyarecreatedis

muchhardertodo.IfIweretodemonstratethecompleteprocessofgettingfrom

theunstructureddetailofsomeone’sramblingintroductiontotheconcise

structureusingthreelinesforgoal,problem,andsolution,Iwouldfillalotof

pageswritingouttranscriptsofconversationsweoftenfindourselvesinatwork,

withlong,ramblingparagraphsofinformationwithkeypointsoutoforder.That

isn’tagooduseofpaperorpixels,anditwouldn’tbefunforanyofus.

Instead,Iwillworkthroughexamplesofgoodstructurefromdifferentsituations,

andyoucanusethemasaguidewhenyoustartpracticingusingyourownwork

topics.

Note:I’veincludedframingintheseexamplestoshowhowframingand

structureworktogethertocreateaclearmessage.Whilestructurecanbe

usedbyitselftoprovideasummary,itisalwaysmorevaluabletocombineit

withframing.

Example#1

Samisacallcenteragentfromcustomerserviceatashippingfirm.Shewentto

speaktoherbossaboutanissuewiththeDavisonGroup,acustomerthatwas

unhappyaboutalostshipment.

Samstartedwithadescriptionofwhenshehadfirstspokentotheclientabout

themissingshipmentearlierintheweek.Samwalkedthroughthehistoryofthe

callswiththeclientandgaveastep-by-stepdescriptionofwhatshehaddonein

thepasttwodaystotrytofindtheshipment.Eventually,shegotaroundto

sayingtheclientwantedarefundandthatsheneededhermanager’shelp

authorizingit.

Throughoutthedescription,themanageraskedquestionsabouttheissue,andthe

fiveminutesofexplanationextendedtotenminuteswhilethemanagertriedto

understandthecompletesituation.Theyalsowentoffonafewtangentsasthe

managerpointedoutwhatmighthavebeenerrorsinthewaytheagenthad

searchedforthelostshipment.

Theconversationendedwiththemanagernotapprovingtherefund.Heneeded

moretimetoreviewthedetailswithSam.Samwentbacktoherdeskunhappy

thatshestilldidn’thaveasolutiontotherefundrequest,andhermanagerwas

frustratedthatittooksolongtounderstandthetopic.

Inthisscenario,ittookalmosttenminutestogettothekeymessage.Didyou

spotwhatthekeymessagewas?Theneedforanauthorizationforarefundand

helpfindingthelostshipment.

IfSamhadgivenastructuredsummaryfirst,shewouldhavequicklymadeit

clearsheneededauthorizationforarefundandalsowantedhelpfindingthe

shipment.Hereiswhatthesummarycouldlooklikeusingthestructured

summaryapproachwiththeGPSmethod.

“I’vejustspokentotheDavisonGroup.Canyouhelpmewithaproblem?They

didn’tgetthelastshipmentandwantarefund.TheDavisonGroupprepaidfora

shipmentlastmonththatdidn’tarrive,andweneedtofixthis.Ican’tfindthe

shipment,andtherefundisabovethelimitIcanapprove.Canyouauthorizethe

refundandhelpmefindthemissingshipment?”

Context:I’vejustspokentotheDavisonGroup.

Intent:Canyouhelpmewithaproblem?

KeyMessage:Theydidn’tgetthelastshipmentandwantarefund.

Goal:TheDavisonGroupprepaidforashipmentlastmonththatdidn’tarrive;

weneedtofixthis.

Problem:Ican’tfindtheshipment,andtherefundisabovethelimitIcan

approve.

Solution:Canyouauthorizetherefundandhelpmefindthemissingshipment?

Thisversionofthemessageisclearandquicktodeliver.IfSamhadstartedthe

conversationwithsuchasummary,themanagerwouldhavereceivedthewhole

pictureinlessthanthirtyseconds.Therestoftheconversationaboutwhathad

happenedandevaluatingthemethodstheagentusedtofindtherefundcould

eitherhappenimmediatelyorbeputofftoamoreconvenienttime.Thiswould

allowthemanagertoquicklyassessthesituationandtakeappropriatestepsto

helpSam.

Usingastructuredsummarydoesn’tstopyoufromhavingdetailed

conversations.Instead,itavoidsforcingthedetailedconversationtohappenright

then.Byfocusingonsolvingtheproblemandavoidinggettingboggeddownin

details,structuredsummariesusingtheGPSmethodprovideyouraudiencewith

achoiceabouthowtheconversationplaysout.

Example#2

Atechnicalanalysthadreadthenewgovernmentguidelinesforpaymentdata

handledthroughafirewallandwastalkingtotheheadofITaboutit.Thisisthe

cleaned-upversionofthediscussionusingframingandastructuredsummary.

“Ireviewedthenewinformationsecuritypolicy.Weneedtotakeactionbecause

ourfirewallisnotcompliantanymore.Thenewindustryregulationsrequireus

tohavealevel-fivefirewallforallecommercetransactionstokeeppaymentdata

secure.Unfortunately,ourcurrentsoftwarewillonlyallowustosupportupto

levelfour.Weneedtocomeupwithaplanforupgradingthesoftwareand

presentittotheleadershipteamforapproval.”

Context:Ireviewedthenewinformationsecuritypolicy.

Intent:Weneedtotakeaction.

Keymessage:Ourfirewallisnotcompliantanymore.

Goal:Thenewindustryregulationsrequirealevel-fivefirewallforall

ecommercetransactionstokeeppaymentdatasecure.

Problem:Ourcurrentsoftwarewillonlyallowustosupportuptolevelfour.

Solution:Weneedtocomeupwithaplanforupgradingthesoftwareandpresent

ittotheleadershipteamforapproval.

Theoriginalmessagewasalotlongerthanthisstructuredsummary.Itwasfull

oftechnicaltermsanddescriptionsoftheprocesses,servicecalls,anddatabases

involvedintheproblem.TheheadofITwasn’tabletofindakeymessageora

nextstepamongstallthedetailandhadtotrytocreatehisownsummaryofthe

message,repeatingbackwhathethoughthe’dheard.Ittookalmosttwenty

minutesfortherealissuetobecomeclear.

Bycontrast,thestructuredversionofthemessagegivenaboveissoclearthatit

couldbedeliveredtoanyoneinalmostanyrole,andtheywouldunderstandwhat

washappeningandwhatneededtobedonenext.Themessagedoesn’tincludea

lotoftechnicaljargon,anditdoesn’trequiretechnicalknowledgetounderstand

whatishappeningorthestepstoaddressit.Thisiswhatmakesagreat

structuredsummary.

Whencreatingyourownstructuredsummaries,avoidusingdeeptechnical

language.Thenyourmessagecanbeunderstoodbyalmostanyone.Youdon’t

needtobeanexpertinthetopictounderstandastructuredsummary.

Youmayknownothingaboutsystemfirewallsortheinnerworkingsofacargo

shippingcompany,butI’mbettingyouunderstoodtheproblemsineachexample

above.Neithersituationrequiredyoutoknowthedetailsoftheprocesses,

systems,orcompaniesinvolved.

Thinkaboutthisthenexttimeyouneedtoexplainaproblemtosomeoneat

work.Theymightnotknowtheprocesses,thesystems,orthedetailthesame

wayyoudo,butthatdoesn’tmeanyouneedtogivethemallthatinformationfor

themtounderstandwhatyouneed.UsetheGPSstructuretohelpsummarizethe

topicintermsofgoal,problem,andsolution,andtheywillhaveamuchbetter

chanceofunderstandingwhatyouaretryingtocommunicate.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Thinkaboutaworkconversationyouneedtohavesoon.Ideally,itshouldbe

aboutsomethingcomplexorchallenging,anditshouldbeanewtopicforthe

persontowhomyouwillspeak.Writedownthegoal,problem,andsolution

statementsforyourtopic.Canyouclearlydefinethegoalyouaretryingto

achieve?Istheproblemstatementfocusedontheonethingthatpreventsyou

fromachievingthegoal?Doyouhaveaclearsolutionstatementthatletsyour

audienceknowexactlywhatyouwanttohappennext?

Nowthatyouhaveyourstructuredsummarywrittenout,itwillbemucheasier

tostarttheconversation.Hopefully,youfindthissimpleapproachmakesthe

startoftheconversationshorterandclearer.

Don’tworryifyoustrugglewiththisactivity.Westruggletosummarize

complextopicsforvariousreasons,includingproblemswithmultiplevariables,

manydependencies,differentlevels,impactsonotherprojects,andbeinglinked

tootherproblems.TheGPSmethodworksinallofthesesituations.Thenext

sectionhelpsunpackthesereasonsandprovidestechniquestogetpastthem.

Ifyoustillfeelthatyourworkproblemsaretoocomplextobesummarizedin

justthreelines,readon.Wewillworkthroughsomecomplexexamplesthat

includekeepingpeoplealivewhenlaunchingthemintospace.Therearen’tmany

problemsmorecomplexorriskierthanthat!

NOPROBLEMISTOOCOMPLEX(TOBESUMMARIZEDIN

LESSTHANAMINUTE)

“Lifeisreallysimple,butweinsistonmakingitcomplicated.”

–Confucius

Youmightbereadingthisandthinking,“Mytopicsarefartoocomplextobe

summarizedinlessthanaminute.”Ifyouare,Icompletelyunderstand.Iusedto

thinkthesamethinguntilIsawtheGPSmethodusedforsometrulycomplex

topics.

SantoshandDoug,twoengineersworkingforNASAinVirginia,USA,wereata

BBQtalkingabouttheirfavoritetopic:theneedformorefundingforthe

InternationalSpaceStation(ISS).TheISSwasamajorpartoftheNASAbudget

atatimewhentheUSAwasturningitssightsbacktothemoon,andtheyboth

hadstrongopinionsaboutmaintainingthefunding.

SantoshandDoughadbeendeepinthediscussionforabouthalfanhourwhen

Nick,anexecutiveatahealthcarefirmandateammateintheirlocalkickball

league,joinedtheconversation.Withoutrealizingwhathewaslettinghimselfin

for,Nickcasuallyaskedwhythecostneededtobesohigh.

Thetwoengineerslaunchedintoadetaileddescriptionofthecomplexityofthe

ISS,thechallengescausedbysolaranddeep-spaceradiation,andthefuel

neededtokeeptheISSattherightaltitudeandtoferrypeopleandsuppliesto

andfromit.Theyalsotalkedabouttherisksposedbydebrisinorbitandmore.

Nickdidn’tseemtomind.Itwasaniceday,hehadadrinkinhishand,andit

wasgenuinelyinterestingstuff.Afewotherpeoplewanderedoverandstood

listeningasthetwoengineerstalkedforovertwentyminutesaboutthescientific

breakthroughsthattheISShadenabled.

Whenthepairfinallywounddown,SantoshsaidtoNick,“Soyousee,that’s

whyitcostsalotandwhythegovernmentshouldkeepfundingit.”

“Youclearlyknowalotaboutthisstuff,”Nicksaid,smiling.“Ididn’tquite

followeverythingyousaid,butwhatIthinkyou’resayingiswebuiltascience

labinspace,andit’shelpinguslearnalotofimportantthings.Theproblemis,

spaceishardtogetto,andthereareahundredwaysapersoncanbekilledup

there.So,ittakesalotofmoneytokeepthelabinspaceandmakesurethe

scientistsusingitstayalive.”

SantoshandDougstaredatNickastheothersaroundthemcommentedonhow

itallmademoresensewhendescribedthatway.

“It’salotmorecomplicatedthanthat,”Santoshsaid,“butyes,youprettymuch

summeditup.”

NickknewnothingabouttheISSbeyondwhathe’dreadinthenewsandseenon

TV.Hewasn’tanengineer,hehadneverworkedonaspaceprogram,andhe

knewnothingaboutthecomplexitiesoflifeinlow-earthorbit.Despitethat,he

wasabletoabsorbasignificantamountoftechnicalinformationfromtwohighly

qualifiedengineersandsummarizeitinthirtysecondssothatothernon-

engineeringpeoplecouldunderstandit.

DidyounoticehowNick’ssummaryfollowedtheGPSstructure?Lookatit

again,andseeifyoucanidentifythethreecomponentsofastructuredsummary.

Goal:Buildasciencelabinspaceandhelphumankindlearnalotofimportant

things.

Problem:Spaceishardtogetto,andthereareahundredwaysapersoncanbe

killedupthere.

Solution:Spendalotofmoneytomakesurethescientistsusingthelabstay

alive.

Asthisshows,itispossibletosummarizeeventhemostcomplextopicsquickly

andclearly.

SomemightarguethatNick’ssummarywasanoversimplification.Ifthe

audiencehadbeenaroomfullofNASAengineersworkingontheISS,it

probablywouldhavebeen,butthepeopleattheBBQweren’ttechnical;they

didn’talreadyhaveknowledgeofthetopic.Thepurposeoftheconversationwas

toexplainwhyitcostsalottomaintainaspacestation,andNick’ssummarywas

theclearestwaytodothat.IfSantoshandDoughadstartedwiththesummary,

theycouldhavehadaconversationwherepeopleaskedaboutthediscoveries

madeorthedangersofspaceinsteadofbeinglectured.Everyonecouldhave

understoodthekeypointsfromthestartratherthanlistenedtoatwenty-minute

monologue.

ANYTOPICCANBESUMMARIZED

Anyworktopic,nomatterhowcomplex,canbesummarizedusingthegoal,

problem,solutionmethod.

AcommentIoftenhearfromattendeesatmyworkshopsis,“Mytopicistoo

complextosummarizeinsixtyseconds.”Thisisanunderstandablebelief,

especiallywhenmuchofourworkiscomplex.Ourworkmightnotbeas

complexasmaintainingalivablehabitatinthevacuumofspace,butitisstill

complexwhenconsideringthemanynuancesofourindustriesandjobs.

Inthepreviouspages,you’veseenhowmostworksituationscanbedefinedas

problemsthatcanbeclearlyexplainedusingtheGPSmethod.TheBBQ

conversationabouttheISSshoweditispossibletosummarizethemostcomplex

ofsituations.Despitethis,itiscommontohearcomplex,detaileddescriptionsof

workproblemsinsteadofclearsummaries.

Why?

Thereareafewcoreandunfortunatelyquitecommoncausesofoverlycomplex

descriptionsatwork.

Cause#1:Weassumetheaudiencethinkslikeus.

Cause#2:Webelievetheaudienceneedstoknowallthedetailstobeableto

understandtheproblem.

Cause#3:Wefocusonvariablesanddependenciesinsteadoftheproblem.

Cause#4:Wesummarizemorethanoneproblematonce.

Cause#1:Weassumetheaudiencethinkslikeus.

Ournaturaltendencyistosummarizethingsinthewayweneedorwouldlike

themtobesummarized.Inthespacestationexample,thetwoengineers

explainedtheneedforfundingasthoughtheyweretryingtoconvincesomeone

likethem,someonewiththesameknowledgeandexperiencetheyhad.Inreality,

theaudiencewasagroupofpeoplewhoknewlittleaboutthetechnologyand

onlywantedtoconceptuallyunderstandthereasonsforthehighcostof

maintainingtheISS.Theydidn’tneedtoknowthedetailstobeableto

understandtheconcepts.

Whencommunicatingatwork,considerwhoyouarecommunicatingwith.

Thinkaboutwhattheyreallyneedtoknowinordertounderstandyourintent

andwhattheyneedtodowithit.Alwaysstartwiththeleastamountof

informationanddatapossibletomakeyourpoint.Toomuchinformationmakes

itharderforpeopletounderstandyourmessageandpurpose.Startwiththe

simplestexplanation.Youcanalwaysaddmoredetailifneeded.

Cause#2:Webelievetheaudienceneedstoknowallthedetailsbeforethey

canunderstandtheproblem.

Ifyouarestrugglingwithaproblemandneedtogetinputfromsomeoneelse,

it’seasytoassumethatpersonneedstohavealltheinformationyouhavebefore

theycanhelpyou.

Partofthiscomesfromwithin.Weconsciouslyorsubconsciouslythink,“How

couldtheypossiblyknowtherightadvicetogiveiftheydon’thaveallthe

facts?”Wemayalsowanttodemonstratetheeffortwe’vealreadyputinto

findingasolution.

Itisrarethatyouraudiencemusthavealloftheinformationbeforetheycan

providevaluablehelp.Giventhatthepurposeofmostworkplacecommunication

istosolvespecificproblems,theinformationweprovideonlyneedstobe

enoughtoachievethatonegoal.

Ifyouhaveframedyourmessageusingthetechniquesdescribedearlierinthis

book,youwillhavedefinedtheintentofyourmessage(requestforaction,input,

approval,advice,andsoon).Havingdonethis,therightlevelofdetailtoinclude

inthestructuredsummaryisjustenoughtoachieveyourstatedintent.Hereare

someexamples.

Ifyouneedadecision,thesummaryshouldfocusonthedecisiontobemade,

notallthereasonswhythedecisionisneeded.

Ifyouneedadviceonhowtosolveaproblem,thesummaryshouldfocusonthe

problemthatneedssolvingandnotonallthereasonswhytheproblemexists.

Whenitcomestodeliveringclearmessages,fewerwordswiththeright

informationisbest.

Cause#3:Wefocusonthevariablesanddependenciesinsteadofthe

problem.

Theproblemswesolveatworkarecomplex.Iftheyweresimple,wewouldn’t

needtoworksohard.

Mostproblems,evenrelativelysimpleones,havemorethanonevariable.They

arealsodependentonandimpactthingsthatgobeyondthecurrentsituationyou

wanttotalkabout.Forexample,ITsystemsareinterconnected.Acostoverrun

inoneprojectcanimpactotherprojects.Adelaycanbecausedbymultiple

issuesthatcometogethertocauseabiggerproblemandsoon.Thelistis

endless.

Don’tmixupthecausesoftheproblemwiththeactualproblemyouneedto

solve.

Whentryingtosummarizeaproblem,it’seasytostartdescribingthevarious

partsoftheproblemthatmakeitcomplexinsteadoffocusingontheproblem

thatneedssolving.Theexistenceofmultiplevariablesisn’taproblembyitself.

Ifthevariablescausinganissueareunknownorkeepchanging,thatisa

probleminandofitself.Inthiscase,thesummaryshoulddefinetheproblemas

beingchangingvariables,andthesolutionshouldfocusonhowtosolvethat.

Thisdoesn’trequireadetaileddescriptionofeachvariable.Theconversation

thatcomesafterthesummarycanincludethedetailsforeachvariableandhowit

impactsthegoal,butthesummarydoesn’tneedthatdetail.Thesummaryshould

dojustwhatitsnameimplies,summarizethegoal,theproblem,andthedesired

solutionatahigherlevel.

Thesamecanbesaidaboutdependencies.Dependenciesarenotproblemstobe

solved.Ifthedependenciesareimpactingyourwork,yourgoalistoresolvethe

problem,notremovethedependency.Forexample,ifanotherprojectislate,and

youneeditfinishedbeforeyourworkcanstart,theproblemisthelatedelivery

oftheproject,nottheexistenceofthedependency.Yourstructuredsummary

shouldfocusonsolvingtheproblemofthelatedelivery.

Ifyoucanclearlydefinethegoalandthespecificproblempreventingthegoal

frombeingachieved,thenyouwillhaveaclearsummary.

Cause#4:Wesummarizemorethanoneproblematonce.

Inchapter2,wesawhowhavingmultipletopicsinoneconversationcancause

problems.Thesameissuesoccurwhentryingtosummarizemultipleproblemsin

thesamesummary.Morethanoneproblemusuallymeansmorethanone

solutionisrequired.

Complexgoalsusuallyhavemultipleparts.Therefore,multipleproblemscan

coexist.Whenfacedwiththissituation,it’seasytolistalltheproblemsinthe

summaryatthestartofaconversation.Unfortunately,thisincreasestheriskof

fallingintooneofthecommonmistakeslistedabove.Italsomakesitharderfor

theaudiencetokeeptrackoftheseparatetopicsintheconversation.

Problemsaresolvedoneatatime,andeachproblemrequiresaseparate

conversationtosolve.Thisdoesn’tmeanyouneedtohaveseparatemeetingsor

comebacktospeaktoyouraudiencemultipletimes.Thetopicscanbecovered

inthesameconversationiftheyareaddressedsequentially.Thekeytohavinga

clearconversationwithmultipletopicsistoframeandsummarizeitatthestart.

Eachproblemneedsitsownstructuredsummary,soyoucanhaveaproductive

discussionandcanachieveyourintendedoutcome.

Starttheconversationwithframing(describedinchapter2).Thenstarteachnew

topicwithframingandastructuredsummary.Completetheconversationonthe

firsttopic,hopefullyfocusingonthesolutionandachievingthedesiredintent,

thenmoveontothesecondtopic.Startthesecondtopicwithframinganda

structuredsummary.Thisensuresyouandyouraudienceareclearthatanew

topichasstarted,andeveryoneisawareofthenewintentanddesiredsolution.

(Thegraphicaldepictionofthisisshownonthenextpage.)

Howtostructureaconversationwithmultipleproblemtopics

ANEXCEPTIONTOTHISRULE

Thereisasituationwheremultipleproblemsdonotrequiremultipleframings.If

multipleproblemshaveacommoncause,thatcommoncausebecomesthe

singularproblemtoaddress.Therootcauseiswhatgetssummarizedaspartof

theGPSstructure.Here’sanexample.

Goal:Todeliveraproductupgradeontime.

Problem:Wearegoingtomissthego-livedatebecausewehavemultiplerelated

issues,eachwithdifferenttimelines.

Solution:Ineedtogettimewithyourteamtoworkthroughtheissuesandcreate

aresponseplan.

Thisexampleprovidesallthecomponentsofastructuredsummary.Nodetailis

givenaboutthespecificissues,andyettheaudiencehasbeengivenasummary

thatincludeswhatishappening,whattheproblemis,andthenextstepstosolve

it.

Ifyoufeeluncomfortableleavingoutallthedetail,theproblempartofthe

structuredsummarycanincludeafewspecificexamplestohelpprovidemore

detailtoyouraudience.Becarefulnottooverdoit.Youwillruntheriskof

expandingthesummarytoomuchifyoustarttalkingaboutthedetailinsteadof

completingthesummary.Hereistheexampleagain,butthistimeafew

additionaldetailshavebeenaddedtotheproblemstatement.

Goal:Todelivertheproductupgradeontime.

Problem:Wearegoingtomissthego-livedatebecausewehavemultiplerelated

issues,includinglatedeliveries,aproductionprocessbacklog,anddelayed

testing,eachwithdifferenttimelines.

Solution:Ineedtogettimewithyourteamtoworkthroughtheissuesandcreate

aresponseplan.

Beingabletosummarizeatopicisakeyskillwhencommunicatingtoleaders.

Theywanttogetthehigh-levelsummarybeforehearinganydetails.Ifyouwant

tobecomealeader,orifyouregularlycommunicatewithleaders,theabilityto

summarizeclearlyissomethingyouneedtomaster.

Therearemanyreasonswethinkwecannotsummarizeatopic,butasthe

examplesinthischaptershow,anytopiccanbesummarizedquicklyandclearly

usingtheGPSmethod.Thekeyistofindtheoneproblemyouwanttodiscuss

andthensummarizethat.Ifyouhavemultipleproblems,youneedtouse

multiplesummariestobesureyouraudiencedoesn’tgetconfused.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Takeanotherlookatthemultipletopicframingemailorconversationnotesyou

createdintheearlieractivities.Youshouldalreadyhaveagoodframingforthe

conversation,sothenextstepistocreatethestructuredsummaryforeachtopic

usingtheGPSmethod.Writeoutthesummaryforeachtopic.Thisprocess

shouldhelpclarifywhatyouwanttogetfromtheconversation.Itwillalsogive

youasetofnotesthatyoucantakewithyoutohelpkeepthestartofthe

conversationontrack.

SOLUTIONSAREFORWARDLOOKING

“Don’tdwellonwhatwentwrong.Instead,focusonwhattodonext.

Spendyourenergiesonmovingforwardtowardfindingtheanswer.”

–DenisWaitley

Thethirdcomponentofthestructuredsummarytechniqueisthesolution.The

solutionstatementtellsyouraudiencewhatyouwanttohappennext.Evenif

youclearlydefinethegoalandtheproblem,youstillneedaclearsolution

statementbecausewithoutasolution,youraudienceisleftthinking,“Sowhat?”

Byframingthestartofthecommunication,youraudiencewillalreadyknowthe

intentofyourmessage(e.g.,makingadecision,providingadviceorinput).The

solutionstatementinthestructuredsummaryiswhereyoustatespecifically

whatyouwanttohappennextandhowtheaudienceisinvolved.

Whyisthisimportant?BecauseItfocusestheaudienceonthesolution,onthe

pathforward,onaction.Itstopsthediscussiongettingboggeddowninthe

problem.

PROBLEMSARENEVERSOLVEDINTHEPAST

Asyou’venodoubtexperienced,peopleexplainsituationschronologically,

layingouttheeventsintheorderinwhichtheyhappened.You’veseenthis

happenintheexamplesthroughoutthisbook.Whenwecommunicateinthis

way,notonlydoesittakealongtime,ouraudienceisforcedtofocusonthe

eventsthatleduptotheproblem,thehistory.Allofouraudience’sproblem-

solvingtalentgoesintothinkingabouthowthissituationcouldhavebeen

avoided.Whilethisisgreatfromalesson-learnedandprocess-improvement

perspective,it’sterribleforsolvingtheproblem.

Whenwestartaconversationtosolveaproblem,itisrarethatwewanttospend

allourtimefocusedonhowitcouldhavebeenavoided.Insteadoffocusingon

thepast,weusuallywanttherecipientofourmessagetofocusonthefuture.We

wantthemtofocusontheactionsandnextstepsthatwillhelpovercomethe

problemandgetusclosertoachievingourgoal.

Structuredsummariesfinishwiththesolutionsothatafterthefirstminuteofthe

conversation,youcanfocusonthesolutiontotheprobleminsteadofgetting

caughtupinareviewofthehistory.

Future-lookingconversationsarepositiveconversations

Conversationsthatfocusonthecausesofproblemsareonlypositivewhenthe

goaloftheconversationistopreventtheproblemfromhappeningagain.Ifthat

isn’tthegoal,thenreviewingthehistoryoftheproblemonlyservestoremind

peopleoftheissuesandmistakesthatledtotheproblem.Thatisn’tsomething

thatpeopleusuallyfeelgoodabout.

Iamnotsayingweshouldavoidlearninglessonsorignoreopportunitiestofix

issueswithourprocesses.Iamafirmbelieverincontinuousimprovement.

However,thegoalofmostofourcommunicationistofocusontheactions

requiredtoquicklysolvetheproblem.TheGPSmethodhelpsthathappen.

Aconversationthatbeginswithastructuredsummarythatusesthethree

componentsoftheGPSmethodisfarmorelikelytobeapositiveconversation

becauseitfocusesonsolutions.

TheGPSmethoddoesn’tglossoverissues,butbyendingthesummarywiththe

solution,thefocusshiftstotheactionsthatwilladdresstheproblem.Ifworkhas

alreadybeendonetofixtheproblem,thesolutionstatementbecomesa

statementofthegoodthingsthathavealreadybeendone,onceagainfocusingon

thepositiveratherthandwellingontheproblem’shistory.

Thinkabouthowthischangestheenergyofastatusupdate.

Example:Amanufacturingplanthadanaccidentthatcausedthemtoshut

downproductionforaday.Theforemanwasreportingonthesituationto

theplantmanager.

“WewerefinishingtheBAC-15productionrunwhenthesheet-metalroller

jammed.Wehadtostoptheproductionlinewhileweworkedoutwhat

happened.Turnsoutthefeederlinesweremovedtomakeroomforthe

installationofanewmachine,andtheyweren’tputbackproperlybefore

productionresumed.Theteamsusedtheoriginalfloormarkingstoalignthe

rollers,butthelineshadn’tbeenupdatedtoaccountforthenewlayoutforthe

newmachinetofit.Whenwefoundthatout,wehadtorepaintallthefloor

markings,whichisn’taquickjob.Thesafetyguidelinebooksarealsooutof

dateandneedrevisingtoaccountforthenewlayout.Anyway,wegotitdone,

andproductionhasresumed.”

Theforemanwastryingtobebrief.Heincludedalotofdetailbutdidn’tgooff

onanytangents,andheendedwiththegoodnewsthatproductionisupand

runningagain.Despitethis,thedescriptionwasalmostentirelynegativeashe

describedthemistakesandproblemstheteamworkedthroughaspartofthe

solution.Notonlydoesthisfocustheplantmanager’sattentiononthepast

insteadofthefuture,thedescriptionmakesitseemliketheproblemsallstill

existinsteadofclearlystatingthatthesolutionswerefoundandimplemented.

RewritingthisexampleusingtheGPSmethodcanprovideamuchmorepositive

status.

“WewerefinishingtheBAC-15productionrunwhenthesheet-metalroller

jammed.Wefoundandfixedthecauseofthejamandhadeverythingupand

runningagainintwenty-fourhours.We’vealreadymadechangestothe

productionlayoutandareupdatingtheprocessdocumentstomakesurethis

doesn’thappenagain.”

Thegoalandproblemarethesameinbothversions,butinthesecondversion

thesolutionisastatementaboutwhathasalreadybeendone.Theoriginalstatus

describedthesolution,butthegoodnewswasburiedinthelistofproblemsand

theircauses.Intherewrittenversion,thesolutionstatementisapositivefuture-

lookingupdate:stepshavebeentakentofixtheproblem,theproductionlineis

runningagain,andtheissueshouldn’thappenagain.

Theproblemisn’thidden,butthefocusisonthestepstheteamtooktoresolve

theissue,andthewholeupdateisfocusedonthepositives.

Ifyouneedtogiveastatusupdate,especiallyaboutanissue,focusonthesteps

alreadytakentofixtheproblem.Ifyouhaven’ttakenanystepsalready,youcan

summarizethestepsyouwilltaketosolvetheproblem.Ifyoudon’tknowwhat

stepstotake,theintentoftheconversationisprobablytogetinputfromyour

audiencetohelpfindthesolution.Thislastscenariomakesthesolution

statementsimple:“Canyouhelpmefixtheproblem?”

Keepthesolutioninapositivedirection,anditwillturntheconversationfroma

potentiallynegativewalkthroughthehistoryofaproblemintoapositive,future-

lookingcommunication.

Examples

Let’stakeanotherlookattheexamplesfromthepreviouschaptersandseehow

endingthestructuredsummarywithasolutionhelpsmaketheconversation

future-lookingandfocusedontheactionsandnextsteps.

Example#1:Samthecallcenteragentandtherefundforlostcargo

Context:I’vejustspokentotheDavisonGroup.

Intent:Canyouhelpmewithaproblem?

KeyMessage:Theydidn’tgetthelastshipmentandwantarefund.

Goal:TheDavisonGroupprepaidforalargeshipmentlastmonththat

didn’tarrive.Weneedtofixthis.

Problem:Ican’tfindtheshipment,andtherefundisabovethelimitIcan

approve.

Solution:Canyouauthorizetherefundandhelpmefindthemissing

shipment?

Thisexampleendswithaclearactionrequest(Canyouauthorizearefund?)and

arequestforhelptolocateinformationaboutthemissingshipment.Atthis

point,themanagermaysimplyauthorizetherefund.Ifso,theconversation

couldbeoverinthenextminute,andSam,thecallcenteragent,wouldhavejust

savedherselftenminutesofdescribingtheproblem’shistory.

Alternatively,themanagermaychoosetofocusonfindingthemissingshipment,

inwhichcasethereisagoodchanceSamwillhavetoanswersomequestions

aboutthestepsshehasalreadytaken.Wecan’talwaysavoidworkingthrough

thehistory,butbyusingframingandstructuredsummaries,weincreasethe

chanceofgettingaquickersolutiontoourproblemandpreventourselvesfrom

relivingthehistory.

Whateverthemanagerchoosestodo,theconversationisstillfocusedonwhathappensnext.

Example#2:ITsystemupgraderequired

Context:Ireviewedthenewinformationsecuritypolicy.

Intent:Weneedtotakeaction.

Keymessage:Ourfirewallisnotcompliantanymore.

Goal:Thenewindustryregulationsrequireustohavealevel-fivefirewall

forallecommercetransactionstokeeppaymentdatasecure.

Problem:Ourcurrentsoftwarewillonlyallowustosupportuptolevelfour.

Solution:Weneedtocomeupwiththeplanforupgradingthesoftwareand

presentittotheleadershipteamforapproval.

Thisexampledoesn’tprovideasolutiontotheproblem.Instead,itendswitha

descriptionofthestepsneededtosolvetheproblem.Theconversationthat

followswilllikelybefocusedonidentifyingwhowillcreatetheplan,howitwill

bedone,andwhen.Thedetailswillvarybasedonwhenandwherethissituation

occurs,butthekeypointisthatafterjustoneminute,theconversationisfocused

onthefuture,andtheparticipantsareabletostartbuildingtheplan.

Ineachoftheseexamples,theaudienceisawareofwhattheyshoulddonext.

Thereisnoquestionof“Whyareyoutellingmethis?”or“Whatdoyouwant

metodowiththisinformation?”Thesolutionpartofthestructuredsummary

clearlyshowswhatshouldhappennext.Whenyoustartyourconversationsthis

way,youraudiencewillbereadytoengageinthenextsteps.

Nowthatyou’velearnedhowtocreateastructuredsummaryandseensome

examples,it’stimetoputthatknowledgeintopractice.Afterall,theonlywayto

getbetteristopractice.Eventually,creatingstructuredsummarieswillbecome

secondnature.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Identifythenextimportantworkmessageyouneedtodeliver,andsummarizeit

usingtheGPSmethod.

Startbywritingouttheframingfortheconversationwithbulletpointsfor

context,intent,andthekeymessage.Thenwritethesummary,detailingthegoal,

problem,andsolution.

Youcanbuildontheworkyou’vealreadydonebyusingyournotesfromthe

activitiesinchapter2.

Framing:

Context:

Intent:

KeyMessage:

StructuredSummary:

Goal:

Problem:

Solution:

Ifthisexerciseisdifficult,reviewtheprevioustwochapters,andseeifyouare

strugglingwithoneofthefollowingcommonproblems.

Doyouhaveasingle,cleargoal?

Areyouincludingmorethanoneprobleminyourstructuredsummary?

Haveyoufocusedonthevariablesanddependenciesinsteadoftheoneproblem

youneedtosolve?

Areyoutryingtogivetheaudiencealltheinformationyouknowinorderfor

themtounderstandtheproblem?

Isyoursolutionforward-lookingandactionable?

WHENYOUHAVEASUMMARYBUTCAN’TMEMORIZEIT

Boththeframingandthestructuredsummarytechniquesaredesignedtobe

simple,easytoremember,andeasytoapply.Wheneveryoulearnanew

techniqueorapplyanewmethod,itcanbedauntingtotrytorememberallthe

parts.Ifyouhavepreparedastructuredsummaryforaconversationbutaren’t

sureifyoucanrememberit,thesolutionissimple:writeitdown,andtakeit

withyoutotheconversation.

Ifyouareworriedhowitwilllookifyouarereadingfromnotes,considerthis:

Theaudiencewillfocusmoreonthecontentofyourmessagethanhowyou

deliverit—contentandinformationmattermorethanperfectdelivery.

Mostleaders,politicians,headsofstate,journalists,andCEOsgivespeeches

usingpreparednotesandscripts.Ifitwasn’timportanttogetthecontentofa

messageright,theteleprompterwouldn’texist.

Don’tbeafraidtowritethingsdown.Youraudiencewillappreciateyoumore

whentheygetaclear,concisemessagethatmakessense.Overtime,youwill

becomecomfortablethinkingaboutandpreparingyourmessagesusingthe

framingandstructuredsummarytechniques.Youmayreachthepointwhereyou

don’tneedtowritethemdownatall.Don’tworryifthatdoesn’thappen.Istill

preparenotesaheadofconversationsbecauseoneminuteofpreparationmakes

memoreconfident.Italsoensuresmyaudiencegetstheclearest,mostconcise

messagerightfromthestart.

SUMMARY

Structuredsummariesarethemissinglinkbetweenknowingthatyoushouldbe

conciseandknowinghowtobeconcise.

YoucanusetheGPSmethodtocreateasummaryintroductiontoanywork

conversationandavoidthemostcommoncommunicationissues:divingintothe

detailtooquickly,goingoffontangents,anddwellingonthepastinsteadof

focusingonsolutions.

Astructuredsummarywillenableyouto:

Deliveranymessageinafewshortsentencesinawaythatiseasytounderstand

Leadyouraudiencethroughthekeypointsofyourmessageinalogicalorder

Finishwithapositive,forward-looking,action-orientedsolution

Nowthatyouknowhowtocreateagoodsummary,thenextstepistomakesure

youraudienceispreparedtohearit.Inthenextchapter,youwilllearntwoquick

waystocheckifyouraudiencehastheabilityandtheavailabilitytobepartof

theconversation.Thesestepswillhelpimproveyourreputationasagood

communicatorandalsoensurethatyouandyouraudiencegetthemostvalue

fromtheconversation.

Astructuredsummarycomesafterframingandfillstheremainingforty-five

secondsofthefirstminute.

CHAPTER4

TIMECHECK&VALIDATIONCHECKPOINT

“Makesureyouraudienceisreadytoreceiveyourmessage.”

–Anonymous

Conversationsinvolveatleasttwopeople,thespeakerandhisorheraudience.

Evenifyouhavepreparedafantasticfirstminuteforyourtopic,howdoyou

knowyouraudienceisreadytohearyourmessage?Youmightbeeagertostart

talkingaboutyourtopic,butdoesyouraudiencehavetimetotalkaboutitnow?

Thesimplestwaytoknowtheansweristoask,andyoushoulddosointhefirst

minute.

Therearetwokeystepstotakeinthefirstminutetoensureyoustartthe

conversationwell.

Step#1:Timecheck:Thissetsexpectationsforhowmuchtimeyouneed.

Step#2:Validationcheckpoint:Thisstepclarifiesifyouraudiencecantalk

now.

Thesetwostepscomeatthebeginningandtheendofthemessageyouhave

createdusingframingandastructuredsummary.Ifyoumissthesesteps,you

riskdamagingyourreputationwiththepersontowhomyouaretalking.Ifyou

includethem,youwillbewellonyourwaytogettingthefirstminuteright.

TIMECHECK-DOYOUHAVEAMINUTE?

Animportantstepatthestartofanyconversationistosettheexpectationfor

howlongtheconversationwilltake.

Acommonquestionusedtostartimpromptuandunplannedconversationsis

“Doyouhaveaminute?”or“Doyouhaveamoment?”

Wearegenerallypoliteatwork,andifsomeoneasksforaminute,wegiveitto

them.Wealsotendtotakeinformationatfacevalue.Ifsomeoneasksfora

minute,webelieveitwillonlybeaminute.

However,asdemonstratedthroughoutthisbook,itrarelytakeslessthana

minuteforpeopletogettothepoint,letalonecompleteaconversation.Notonly

doesittakelongerthanaminutetogettothepoint,oncewehavesomeone’s

attention,wetendtolaunchintoourtopicanddon’tkeeptrackofthetimewe

aretaking.Unlesswehaveourownreasontoleavethediscussionquickly,these

“Doyouhaveaminute?”conversationstendtocontinueuntilourintentforthe

conversationismet.Whenyouaddinthetimeittakesfortheotherpersonto

respondandcompletethediscussion,therequestedminutequicklybecomesfive

ortenminutes.

Whentheconversationdoesn’tfitintotherequestedminute,itputstheaudience

intheawkwardpositionofeitherhavingtointerruptthespeakerorchoosingto

spendmoretimethanexpectedontheconversation.Spendingmoretimeonthe

conversationcanhaveitsownconsequences,likebeinglateforanothermeeting

orhavinglessbreaktime.

THETWO-STEPPROCESSTOFIXTHE“DOYOUHAVEAMINUTE?”

PROBLEM

Ifyourtopiccantrulybeaskedandansweredwithinoneminute,thephrase“Do

youhaveaminute?”isfine.Inthemorelikelyeventthatyourtopicrequiresat

leastaminutetodescribeaswellasadditionaltimetogetaresponse,hereisa

two-stepprocessyoucanfollowtoavoidaskingforjustaminute.Followingthis

processwillresultinabettercommunicationexperienceforeveryone.

Step1:Askfortheamountoftimeyouactuallyneed

Insteadofaskingforaminute,askforasmuchtime,ormoretime,thanyou

thinkitwilltaketohavetheconversation.Don’taskforaminuteifyouknow

you’llneedfiveortenortenminutestocoverthetopic.

Partofcommunicatingclearlyinvolvesmanagingyouraudience’sexpectations.

Don’ttellthemsomethingwilltakelesstimethanyouneed.Ifyoudo,youare

settingyourselfuptomissaself-imposeddeadline.Thisharmsyourreputation

asacommunicatorandalsoasaneffectiveworker.Ifyoucan’tmeetatimeline

yousetforyourself,othersmaydoubtyourabilitytodeliveragainstother

deadlines.Attheveryleast,youmightirritateyouraudiencebecausetheyreally

onlyhadoneminutetospare.

Step2:Gettothepointquickly

Havingsettheexpectationthatfive,ten,ormoreminutesareneeded,and

assumingthepersonyouarespeakingtoagreestotalk,don’twastethesmall

amountoftimeyouhave.Useframingandastructuredsummarytogetyour

messageacrossinlessthanaminute,andallowmoretimeforthediscussionyou

reallywanttohave.

Givingaclear,concisemessageusingastructuredsummaryprovidesmoretime

foryouraudiencetorespond.Thisiswhereyougetthemostvaluefromthe

discussion,whentheotherpersonishelpingachievetheintentyouhadforthe

conversation.

Thisprocessrequiresyoutothinkaboutyourtopicandtheconversationbefore

ithappens.Thisdoesn’tmeansittingandthinkingforhalfanhourbeforeevery

conversation.Ittakeslessthanaminutetothinkthroughyourmessage,to

identifywhatyouwanttoachieveintheconversation,andestimatehowlongit

mighttaketogettheansweroroutcomeyouareseeking.

Investingoneminutetoprepareforaconversationistimewellspent.Youwill

getthatminutebackmanytimesoverwhentheconversationyouhaveisclear,

andyourmessageisdeliveredefficiently.

VALIDATIONCHECKPOINT-ISNOWAGOODTIME?

Afterthetimecheck,deliveryourframingandstructuredsummary.Thiswill

giveyouraudienceagreatintroductiontotheconversationyouwanttohave.

Eventhoughtheyhavealreadyagreedtotalktoyouaspartofthetime-check

step,youshouldverifythatyouraudienceisabletoengageintheconversation

aftertheyhaveheardtheadditionalinformation.

Forsomeonetohelpyouwithyourproblem,thepersonmusthavetheability

andtheavailabilitytodoso.

Ability–theknowledge,access,orauthoritytohelpwithyourrequest

Availability–thetimeandthedesiretohelp

ABILITY

Ifthepersonyouarespeakingtodoesn’thavetheabilitytohelpyou,itis

importanttofindoutquickly,soyoudon’twastetheirtimeoryours.Thereis

littlevalueinspendingtenminutesdescribingyourproblem,onlytohaveyour

audiencesay,“Ican’tauthorizethat.YouneedtotalktoNaveed.”Whilewe

oftenthinkweknowtherightpersontospeakto,weshouldneverassumeour

audiencehastheabilitytohelpwithourproblem.

AVAILABILITY

Manyworkconversationsarenotscheduled.Youmightstopbysomeone’sdesk,

callthem,orstarttalkingwhenyoubumpintothemaroundtheoffice.Unless

youareusingascheduledmeeting,youareunlikelytoknowiftheyhavethe

timetotalkaboutyourtopicwhenyoustarttheconversation.Thepersonyou

arespeakingtomightneedtimetoprepareorhaveotherthingstodothatare

morepressingatthatmoment.Ifyouhavestoppedsomeoneinthecorridor,they

werealreadyontheirwaysomewhere,perhapstoameeting,totakeabreak,or

oneofmanyotherpossibledestinations.Ratherthanassumingtheyhavethe

time,askiftheydo.Thisisakeyreasonforincludingthevalidationcheckpoint.

Whenwearepreparedtospeaktosomeone,wetendtoassumetheotherperson

isequallypreparedtospeaktous.Thisisespeciallytruewhenweareexcited

aboutatopicorwefeelasenseofurgencyaroundit.Unfortunately,thepeople

wewanttotalktomaynotfeelthesamelevelofinterestorurgency.Usinga

validationcheckpointensuresyouarebothequallypreparedtoengageinthe

conversation.

TRAPPEDINACONVERSATION

Itiseasytostartaconversationwiththefalseassumptionthatyouarespeaking

totherightperson.

Haveyoueverfoundyourselflisteningtoacolleaguewhohasn’tquitegottothe

question,butyoualreadyknowyouarenottherightpersontohelp?Maybethe

personspeakingassumesyouknowananswer,butyoudon’t.Perhapstheywere

givenyournamebysomeoneelse,butyouaren’ttherightperson.Whenthis

happens,youbecomestuckinaconversationthatisn’tvaluableforyouorthe

personaskingyouforhelp.Thisismadeworseiftheotherpersonisnotableto

quicklyandclearlygettothepoint.Listeningtosomeonedescribethehistoryof

aproblemisparticularlyfrustratingifyouknowthereisnothingyoucandoto

helpthem.

Ifyouareonthereceivingendofthistypeofconversation,youhavelimited

optionsforhowtorespond.

Youcaninterruptandletthepersonknowyoucan’thelp.Thisispresumptuous

becauseyoumayhavemisinterpretedtheirintentions,whichwouldhavebeen

clearerhadtheygottotheendoftheirlongdescription.Itmayalsobeseenas

impolite.

Youcanwaitforthemtocompletetheirdescriptionandthentellthemyouaren’t

therightpersontoanswerthequestion.Thisismorepolite,butitcostsyouand

yourcolleaguetimethatcouldbebetterspentfindingtherightpersontohelp

solvetheirproblem.

Whileyoucannotpreventotherpeoplefromtakingyourtimeinthisway,you

canavoidcausingitwhenyouasksomeoneelseforhelpbyaddingavalidation

checkpointattheendofthefirstminute.

MAKESUREYOUUSEVALIDATIONCHECKPOINTS

Forsomeonetoassessifheorshehastheabilityandavailabilitytohelpyou,the

personneedstoknowenoughaboutthetopictounderstandwhatyouneedand

howurgentitis.Agoodfirstminute,usingframingandastructuredsummary,

willprovideenoughinformationforyouraudiencetodothis.

Givingclearinformationisagoodstart,butitisn’tenough.Youraudiencemust

havetheopportunitytochoosetocontinueorleavetheconversation.Youcando

thisbysimplyaskingthem.Icallthisavalidationcheckpoint,andithelps

ensuretheconversationstartsinthebestwaypossible.

Ifyoudon’tincludeavalidationcheckpoint,youareputtingyouraudienceinthe

positionofhavingtowaitforyoutofinishalongintroductionorinterrupting

youtoletyouknowtheycan’ttalkrightnow.Eitherwayyouriskwastingtime

talkingtothewrongpersonortalkingtosomeonewhoisn’tpreparedtohavethe

conversationrightnow.

Whenyoustartaconversationfocusedonsolvingaproblem,afinitenumberof

outcomesexist.Thepersonorpeopleyouarespeakingtowill:

Bepreparedtocontinuethediscussionimmediately

Notbereadytohavetheconversationatthatmoment

Tellyoutheyarenottherightpersonforthetopic(andpotentiallyredirectyou)

Wanttoclarifysomethingyousaidintheframingorthestructuredsummary

Ifyouraudienceisinanycategoryotherthanthefirstonementionedabove,

theywillappreciatenotbeingtrappedinalong-windedorconfusing

conversation.

Validatingthatyoucancontinuetheconversationiseasy.Herearesome

examplesofvalidationcheckpointquestionsyoucanaskaftergivingthe

structuredsummary:

Areyoutherightpersontohelpwiththis?

Doyouhavetimetotalkaboutthisnow?

DoyouhaveanyquestionsaboutwhatIjustdescribed?

Eachofthesequestionsprovidesyouraudiencewithachancetoadviseyouif

theycannotcontinuetheconversation.

WHENTOADDTHEVALIDATIONCHECKPOINTS

Thevalidationcheckpointcanbeusedaftertheframing,orattheendofthe

structuredsummary.Thereareprosandconstoeach.

ValidatingafterFraming(butbeforesummary):

Pros:Quicklyallowsyouraudiencetoendtheconversationiftheyarenotthe

rightpersontohelporiftheydon’thavethetimerightnow.

Cons:Youraudiencehaslimitedinformationtoassesstheurgencyofthetopic.

Theymaynotfullyunderstandwhatyouneedbecausetheyhaven’theardthe

goal,problem,andsolution.

Validatingafterthestructuredsummary:

Pros:Youraudiencehasenoughinformationtounderstandtheproblemandthe

request.

Cons:Ittakeslongertogettothevalidationcheckpoint.Whileaminutemaynot

seemlikealongtimetowait,itcanbeifyoustoppedthepersonontheirwayto

anothermeetingortothebathroom!

Wheneveryouchoosetoaddthevalidationcheckpoint,thissimplestepgives

theotherpersonachoicetoprioritizetheconversationyouwanttohaveagainst

theotherthingsdemandingtheirtimeandattention.

WhatifIdon’tknowtherightpersontotalkto?

Sometimesyoudon’tknowwhotospeaktoaboutyourtopicorproblem.Inthis

casethefirstproblemyouaretryingtosolveislocatingtherightcontact.This

meanstheframingandstructuredsummaryforyourconversationshouldbe

focusedonfindingthepersontohelpwithyourissueratherthanbeingfocused

ontheissue.Itisasmallbutimportantdifference.

Inthiscase,theprinciplesofframingremainthesame.Youstillusecontext,

intent,andkeymessage.

Example:

Context:I’mlockedoutofthesalessystem.

Intent:Canyouhelpme?

Keymessage:DoyouknowhowIcanresetmypassword?

Thepersonyouspeaktoeitherknowstheanswerandprovidestheinfoyouneed

ordoesn’tknowtheanswer.Ifthepersondoesn’tknowtheanswer,heorshe

mightsuggestsomeoneelseyoucanspeakto(e.g.,“TalktoAnna.Sheknowsall

thetrickstohandlingthatsystem.”),aresourceyoucanlookat(e.g.,“Haveyou

lookedattheIThelpdesk?”),oranynumberofothersuggestions.

Ifyoudon’tgetthesolutionthefirsttimeyouasksomeone,usethesame

framingmessagewiththenextpersontowhomyouspeak.

Ifyouarestrugglingwiththissituation,andyoufindyourselfwantingtoinclude

moreinformationaboutwhatyouaretryingtodoandwhy,thinkabouthowyou

askastrangerfordirections.Doyougivealongbackstory,ordoyoukeepthe

conversationasshortaspossible?

Iknowmypreference:keepitshort,getthehelpyouneed,saveeveryonetime.

SUMMARY

Makingsureyougettheengagementyouwantinaconversationrequires

expectationmanagementandvalidationthatnowistherighttimetotalk.

Toavoidnegativelyimpactingotherpeople’sschedulesandtheiropinionofyou,

makesureyoudothefollowing.

Askfortheamountoftimeyouactuallyneed.

Gettothepointquicklyandclearlyusingframingandastructuredsummary.

Don’tassumeyouraudiencehastheabilitytohelpsolveyourproblem.Ask

themiftheydo.

Giveyouraudiencethechoicetocontinueorleavetheconversation.

Beingsensitivetothetimeconstraintsofothersandbeingconciseinyour

messagearehabitsthatallgreatcommunicatorsdevelop.Addthetimecheck

andvalidationcheckpointtoyourfirstminute,andyouwilltrulygetthefirst

minuteright.Dothis,andyourcolleagueswillappreciateit.

Uptothispoint,thisbookhasfocusedprimarilyonverbalcommunicationand

conversationsinsteadofemails,meetings,presentations,orspeeches.Inaddition

totalkingtopeople,muchofourcommunicationatworkhappensviaemailand

inmeetings.Thenextchaptercoverstheapplicationofframingandstructured

summariesindifferentcircumstances.You’llseehowthetwotechniquescan

helpyougetthefirstminuterightinmanyworkplacecommunicationsituations,

includingemails,meetings,interviews,statusupdates,andthoseawkward

situationswhereyouareunexpectedlycalledontogiveanupdate.

CHAPTER5

APPLYINGtheTECHNIQUESINDIFFERENT

SITUATIONS

Asnotedearlier,thetechniquesdescribedinthisbookarerelevanttomorethan

justconversation-basedcommunication.Emails,meetinginvitations,escalations,

presentations,andeveninterviewscanbenefitfromthesesimpletechniques.

Thischaptershowshowtoapplytheframingandstructuredsummary

techniquesinthefollowingsituations:

Emails

Meetinginvitations

Statusupdates

Unexpectedquestions

Escalatingissues

Deliveringpositivemessages

Introducingpresentations

Instant-messagingplatforms

Interviewanswers

EMAILS

AstudyofemailhabitsbyAdobefoundthatemailcontinuestobethepreferred

waytoengagewithcoworkers.⁸Thirty-ninepercentofrespondentsusedemail

astheprimarymethodtoaskcoworkersaquestion,and57percentuseditasthe

mainwaytoprovideastatusupdate.

Whileemailmayhavereplacedconversationastheprimarymeansof

communicationatwork,ithasn’tchangedtheneedtobeclearandconcise.

Luckily,theframingandstructuredsummarymethodscanbeappliedinthe

samewayforemailsastheyareforconversations.Thiscanreducethelengthof

anemailandgreatlyincreasetheclarityofthemessage.

HOWTOUSEFRAMINGANDSTRUCTUREDSUMMARIESINAN

Ageneralformatforapplyingframingandstructuredsummariestoanemailis

thefollowing:

Contextgoesinthesubjectline.

Intentcangointhesubjectlineorinthefirstlineoftheemail.

Yourkeymessageshouldbestatedinthefirstlineoftheemail.

Thegoal,problem,andsolutionarelabeledbulletpointsorseparateshort

paragraphsinthemainmessage.

Example:

To:Diane@work.com

Subject:Websiteupdates–prioritydecisionneeded

HiDiane,

Canyouhelpmewithapriorityorderdecisionforthewebsitedevelopment

team?

Goal:Theproductteamhasaskedustofixaproblemwiththeloginscreenon

thewebsite.Thisisanurgentrequestbecausecustomersarecallingand

complainingtheycan’taccesstheiraccounts.

Problem:Wehavelimitedresourcesonourteam,andanotherpieceofwork

wouldhavetomovetoalaterdeliverydateforthischangetooccur.

Solution/Request:Canyouhelpmeunderstandthepriorityforthefollowing

items?Whichonecanbedelayed?

Item#1:Layoutchangesforsidebarmenusonthehomepage

Item#2:AutomatethegenerationofthePDFs

Item#3:Addaquestionformtothecontactpage

WehaveuntilFridaytodecideonwhattodelay,soyouhaveacoupleofdays.

Pleasecallmeifyouhaveanyquestions.

Thanks,

Chris

Alltheelementsofframingandstructuredsummaryarepresentinthisemail.

Framing:ThefirsttwentywordsshowDianewhattheemailisabout.The

contextisprovidedinthesubjectline,alongwiththeintent.Theintentis

restatedinthefirstline,andthekeymessageisalsointhefirstline.

StructuredSummary:Thegoal,problem,andsolutionarelabeledbullet

pointsandstandoutinboldfont.Blanklinesbetweeneachitemhelp

differentiatethepoints.

Whencreatingthebodyofyourownemails,youcouldchoosetoleaveoutthe

bulletsandjusthavesentencesforeachsectionofthestructuredsummary.

However,theuseofbulletswithboldfontshowinggoal,problem,andsolution

isafoolproofwaytoensureyourreaderknowswhyeachpieceofinformationis

included.

Oneotherelementisincludedintheexample.Thesolutionbulletislabeled

“solution/request.”Theadditionoftheword“request”helpsclarifytheintentof

thebullet.IfDianeonlyscannedtheemail,shewouldseetheboldedwords,and

theword“request”wouldstandoutbecauseit’sacalltoaction.

Dianemayneedmoreinformationforeachoftheitemsbeforeshecanmakea

decision,andtherecouldbefollow-upemailsorphonecalls,butatleastshehas

acleardescriptionofwhatneedstobeachieved,theproblem,andthepathto

resolveit.

Whileitisimportanttouseeveryopportunitytostrengthenrelationships,the

majorityofworkemailistransactional.Unlikeverbalconversation,thereisn’t

oftenaneedforrelationshipbuildingandpleasantriesinworkemail.Thismeans

therecipientwill,moreoftenthannot,valueamessagethatgetstothepoint.

SOMEEMAILSDON’TNEEDASTRUCTUREDSUMMARY

Everyemailshouldbeframedwiththesubjectlineandthefirstlineoftheemail

providingcontext,intent,andthekeymessage,butnoteveryemailneedsto

includeasummaryusingtheGPSmethod.Forexample,ifyouareaskingaone-

linequestion,replyingtoamessage,participatinginagroupemaildiscussion,or

providingfeedback,thereisn’tusuallyaneedtowriteastructuredsummary

usingtheGPSmethod.

Formorecomplextopics,thefirstemailsentshouldhaveastructuredsummary

toensurethetopicisclear,butsubsequentemailsinresponsetotheoriginal

messagedon’tneedasummary.Thinkofemailchainsasaconversation.The

responsesfromeachparticipantflowbackandforthnaturallywithouttheneed

foraformalstructureeachtime.

Theexceptiontothisruleisifalongemailchainhasbecomeconfusingoris

mixingupmultipletopics.Emailchainscaneasilyextendtotenormoreemails,

andwhenmultiplepeoplearepartofthediscussion,thenumberofrepliesinthe

chaincangetevenhigher.Whenthishappens,theconversationcandriftaway

fromtheoriginalgoal,andnewordifferentproblemscanbeintroduced.Thisis

especiallylikelywhennewpeopleareaddedtotheemailchainpartwaythrough

theconversation.

Thisisthetimetouseastructuredsummaryinthemiddleofthechain.Ifthe

purposeoftheconversationisnolongerclear,orthenatureofthegoal,problem,

orsolutionhavebecomemuddled,youshouldincludeastructuredsummaryin

yournextreply.Attheveryleast,someonewillconfirmifyourown

understandingofthesituationiscorrect(ornot),butwhatismorelikelyisthat

youwillfindothersaregratefulfortheclarificationandtherefocusonthe

problemtosolve.

Ifanemaildiscussionhasbeengoingonforalongtime,andthepurposeisn’t

clear,tryreplyingwiththefollowingformattoclarifywhatthediscussionis

reallyabout:

Hifolks,

I’vebeenfollowingthediscussionandwouldliketoclarifythegoalweare

tryingtoachieve.Canyouletmeknowifthissummaryisaccurate?

Goal:[Insertyourunderstandingofthegoalhere]

Problem:[Insertyourunderstandingoftheproblemhere]

Solution:[Insertyourunderstandingofthesolutionhere]

Thanks,

Ifyouareinthemidstofoneofthesechains,don’tsitbackandacceptthe

confusion.Instead,takeasimplestep,andbetheonetobringclaritytothe

conversation.Summarizethetopic,andgetagreementfromthegroupthatyour

summaryisaccuratebeforeallowingtheconversationtocontinue.

Ideally,anemailchainwithlotsofreplieswillbestoppedandthediscussion

movedtoaphonecallorface-to-faceconversation.Inthatevent,themeetingor

phonecallshouldstartwithastructuredsummarytoensureeveryonehasthe

sameunderstandingofwhattheconversationisabout.

FORWARDINGEMAILCHAINS

Thereisonesituationwhenitisalwaysagoodideatoincludeastructured

summaryinanemailchain,andthatiswhenforwardingemailchains.

Ifyouaresendinganemailchaintosomeonenew,don’tmaketherecipientdig

forinformationorguesswhyyouaresendingittothem.Youshouldn’texpect

themtoreadthewholethingfromthebeginningeither.

Imagineifsomeonepassedyouinthecorridor,shovedastackofpapersinto

yourhands,andsaid,“Readthis,”andthenwalkedaway.Howhappywouldyou

bewiththatinteraction?Wouldyoubeinclinedtoreadtenpagesofnotestofind

outwhatthemessageis?Myguessisyouwouldn’tbepleased,youprobably

wouldn’treadthepapers,andyourimpressionofthatpersoncertainlywouldn’t

goup.

Mostpeoplecouldn’timaginedoingthis;it’srude.Yetthisisexactlywhat

happenswhensendinganemailstringtwentyemailslongandstartingitwitha

messagethatsays“FYI,”“seebelow,”or“Ithoughtyoumightneedtoknow

this.”

Whenforwardinganemailchain,writeyouremailasthoughyouarestartinga

newconversation,becauseyouare.Providecontext,haveaclearintentfor

sendingtheemail,clearlystatethekeymessagetherecipientneedstoknow,and

summarizetheinformation.Don’tmaketherecipientdigforinformation.

Withoutasummary,thereisahighchancetherecipienteitherwon’treaditor

willnotgetthespecificpointyouwantthemtoget.

Whetheritisforinformation,anescalation,ortoaskaquestion,aforwarded

emailchainshouldalways,alwaysincludeasummaryfromyou.

LONGEREMAILS

Emailsshouldbeshortandtothepoint.Despitethiswestillsendandreceive

messagesthataremanypageslong.Themerethoughtofreadingpagesofemail

textmakesmyeyesglazeover.Weskipovertheseemailsinourinboxes,

promisingourselveswe’llreturntothemwhenwehavemoretime.Somepeople

simplywon’treadanemailthatspansmultiplepages.

Long,unbrokentextishardertoread.Ifyouraudienceisfacedwithapageof

densetext,itmakesthemlesslikelytoreaditbecause:

Theemaillookslikeitwilltakealongtimetoread.

Thereisnoindicationofurgencyforwhytheyneedtoreaditimmediately.

It’shardtoseethedifferentsections.

There’snofocusfortheirattention;it’snotclearwheretheyshouldlook.

Apagethatispurelytextrequiresyouraudiencetostartatthetopandworktheir

waydownlinebylinetofindthekeyinformation,callstoactions,andsoon.

Thistakestime,andwithhundredsofotheremailsvyingfortheirattention,the

long,text-densemessageswillgotothebottomofthelist.

Thesimplestwaytobreakupablockoftextandmakeiteasiertoreadistoadd

headings,bullets,andwhitespace.Thisiswheretheframingandstructured

summarytechniquesprovideyetanotherbenefit;theyprovidetheheadingsand

bullet-pointstructuretocreateaclearmessagethatisvisuallyeasytoconsume.

Readthefollowingtwoemails.Theycontainexactlythesamecontent,butthe

secondonehasheadingsforthekeymessageandforeachpartofthestructured

summary.Email#1looksshorter,butitismuchhardertoquicklyidentify

criticalinformation.

Note:Theexamplesuseplaceholdertext.Thisisdeliberate.Thepointofthese

examplesistodemonstratethevisualimpactofthestructure.

Email#1:Unstructuredcontent

Email#2:Contentstructuredusinggoal,problem,solution

Itispreferabletokeepemailsasshortaspossible,butsometimesmore

informationisrequiredtoclearlydescribethegoal,theproblem,andparticularly

thesolution.Ifyouneedtoincludealotofinformation,theprinciplesofframing

andstructuredsummarystillapply.

First,layouttheemailusingtheheadingsandstructuredescribedabove.Ifyou

needmorethanonelineorbulletunderanyofthethreeheadings(Goal,

Problem,Solution),simplyincludemorebulletsunderthatheadingintheemail.

Thegoalistostructuretheinformationinawaythatmakesiteasytoconsume

andtoleavenoambiguityastothepurposeofthemessage.

SUMMARY

Theprinciplesofframing,structuredsummary,andvalidationcheckpointsare

thesameforemailastheyareforface-to-faceconversations.Short,succinct

messageswithapauseforvalidatingthattheaudiencehastheabilityand

availabilitytorespondarecriticalforgreatcommunication.

Manypeoplefindithardtobesuccinctinthefirstemailonatopic,especiallyif

theyfeeltheinformationmustbeincludedforthemessagetomakesense.Don’t

giveintothistemptation.

MEETINGINVITATIONS&THEFIRSTMINUTEOFMEETINGS

“Ifyousendmeablankinvitation,expectablankresponse”

–Anonymous

ImagineacoworkercametoyourdeskandtoldyoutobeinMeetingRoom2at

10a.m.andthenwalkedaway.Theydidn’ttellyouwhatthemeetingwasabout

orexplainwhyyouneededtobethere.

Howwouldyoufeel?Wouldyougotothemeeting?

Itishardtoimaginethishappeningveryoften,andyetthisoccurseverydayto

tensofthousandsofpeoplewhentheyreceivemeetinginvitationsatworkthat

areeitherblankorcontainlittleinformationaboutthemeeting.

Notonlyareblankmeetinginvitationsrude,theyareamajorcauseof

inefficiencyatwork.AstudybyLudicMeetingshowsthattheprimaryreason

whymeetingsareunproductiveisthatthepurposeofthemeetingisn’tclear.

Thestudyreportsthatonlyoneintenpeoplealwaysunderstoodthepurposeof

theirmeetings.Athirdofrespondentsonlysometimesknowthepurposeofthe

meeting,andalmostoneinsixrarelyorneverknowwhatthemeetingsare

about.AdifferentstudybyBainandCoreportsanaverageof15percentof

everyworkingdayisspentinmeetings.¹ Thatfigureincreasesto35percentor

moreformanagersandexecutives.

Theamountoftimewespendinmeetingseachday,andthelackofclear

purposeforthem,adduptonumerousmeetingswheretheattendeesdon’tknow

whytheyarethere.Despitethis,blankmeetinginvitationsorinvitationswith

littletonoinformationinthemareafactoflifeinmostcompanies.

Thegoodnewsis,aneasyfixforsomeofthemaincomplaintswehaveabout

meetingsisreadilyavailable.Usingamodifiedversionofframingandincluding

astructuredsummaryineverymeetinginvitationwillensuretherecipientsof

invitationswillalwaysknowwhatthemeetingisaboutandwhytheyarebeing

askedtoattend.

PROVIDEACLEARPURPOSEINYOURINVITATIONS

Ifthepurposeofameetingisn’tclearwhensomeonereadsaninvitation,they

won’tknowwhytheyareinvited.Italsowon’tbeclearifanypreparationis

needed,anditwon’tbeeasytoprioritizethemeetingagainstanythingelse

happeningthatmightbebookedforthesametimeslot.

Meetinginvitationsaretheequivalentofthestartofaconversation.Asthe

exampleatthestartofthissectionshowed,youwouldn’twalkuptoacoworker

andtellhimorhertobeinaspecificlocationatacertaintimewithoutproviding

somecontextandareasontobethere.Ifyouwouldn’tdoitinperson,don’tdoit

inelectroniccommunicationeither.

Everyonewhoisinvitedtoameetingwantstoknowthepurposeofthemeeting

andwhatwillcomeofit.Theoutputcanbeadecision,amore-informedgroup

ofpeople,alistofideas,solutions,andsoon.Whatevertheexpectedoutput,it

shouldbecleartoeveryattendeewhattheywillproduceintheirtimetogether.

Framingisagreatwaytostartaconversationinperson,andbyreplacingthekey

messagewithtwonewelements,framingcanworkformeetinginvitationstoo.

Context:Includeitinthesubjectline.

Intent:Includeitinthesubjectline.

KeyMessageisreplacedbytwonewitems:

Meetingpurpose:Onelinedescribingwhatthemeetingisfor.

Meetingoutput:Onelinestatingtheexpectedoutcomeoroutputofthe

meeting.

Additionalinformationcanbeprovidedinastructuredsummaryafterthe

meetingoutputline.Thiswillprovideaconcisesummaryofthemeetingtopic

andhelppeopleprepareforthediscussion.

Example#1

To:colleagues@work.com

Subject:Newprojectkick-off–needtoidentifypeopletoworkonit

(Thetextbelowgoesintothebodyoftheinvitation)

MeetingPurpose:Tokickoffanewsoftwareupgradeprojectandidentify

resourcestoworkonit.

MeetingOutput:Ashortlistofthepeopleneededtoworkontheproject.

AdditionalInformation:Structuredsummaryshouldbeincludedhere

Example#2

To:colleagues@work.com

Subject:Health-and-safetyrulechange–weneedtoprepareforthe

changes

(Thetextbelowgoesintothebodyoftheinvitation)

MeetingPurpose:Toreviewthehealth-and-safetyguidelinechangesand

createaplantoimplementtheminourdepartment

Meetingoutput:Alistofactionsforustoimplementthenewhealth-and-

safetyguidelines.

KeyMessage/Summary:ThecompanyHQhassentoutnewhealth-and-

safetyguidelines.Wehaveonemonthtopreparebeforethenewrulesare

enforced.Thechangesarenotsignificant,butweneedtomakesureweare

ready.

AdditionalInformation:Structuredsummarymayormaynotbeincluded

here.

Thepersonsendingthesecondexamplechosetokeepthekeymessageinthe

framinginadditiontothemeetingpurposeandmeetingoutput.Thisgivessome

backgroundinformationthatmayhelpinviteesunderstandthesituationbetter.It

isahalfwaystepbetweenincludingnoadditionalinformationandincludinga

structuredsummary.Youmaychoosetodothisinsteadofaddingafull

structuredsummaryiftheinformationinthekeymessageissufficienttoensure

theinviteeshaveaclearunderstandingofthemeeting.

Astheseexamplesshow,itdoesn’ttakemuchtoproviderecipientswithenough

informationtounderstandwhytheyareinvited.Inonlytwoorthreebullet

points,youcanprovidegoodintroductorycontent,definethepurposeofthe

meeting,andensuretheinviteesknowwhytheyareinvited.

Tip:Whenusingthestructureabove,keeptheboldedwordsintheinvite.

Theyguidereadersthroughthemessageandmakeiteasiertounderstand.

Whataboutthetimecheckandvalidationcheckpoints?

Neitheratimechecknoravalidationcheckpointareneededinanelectronic

meetinginvitation.

Inface-to-faceconversation,atimecheckisneededtogivetheaudiencean

optiontodefertheconversationtoalatertime.Thisisn’tneededinmeeting

invitationsbecausetherecipientscanchoosetolookattheinvitationwhenever

theywantandcanreturntoitatalatertimeifneeded.

Thevalidationcheckpointisn’tneededeitherbecausetheresponsetothe

invitationservesasitsownvalidation.Therecipientwilleitheraccept,decline,

orrespondastentative.Theymayalsoaskquestionsifneeded.

Whataboutagendas?

Conventionaladvicesaysallmeetingsshouldhaveanagenda.Ifameetinghas

onepurpose,andthatpurposeistosolveaspecificproblem,aninvitationthat

includesthemeetingpurposeandthemeetingoutputistheagenda.Addinga

formalagendaonlycreatesmoreworkforthepersonsettingupthemeetingand

isanotherdocumentthatinviteesneedtoread.

Ifameetinghasmultipletopics,thereisvalueinhavinganagendatoshowthe

topics.Ifeachtopichasadifferentspeaker,anagendacanhelpshowtheorder

thetopicswillappearinthemeeting.Evenwithanagenda,theprinciplesof

framingstillhold.Meetingshavecommonthemes,evenifthetopicsdiscussed

arevaried.Theframingfortheinvitationshouldrelatetothecommontheme

and,ifappropriate,eachtopicontheagendacanhaveitsownframingand

structuredsummaryinthesamewaymulti-topicconversationsareframed.

Duringthemeeting,eachitemontheagendashouldbeintroducedasthough

startinganewconversation,usingalltheprinciplesandtechniquesofframing

andstructuredsummary.

IMPROVEPRODUCTIVITYWITHACLEARPURPOSEAND

INTRODUCTION

Startingameetingwellimprovesthechanceofitbeingproductive.Ifyou

includethemeetingpurpose,meetingoutputs,andastructuredsummaryinthe

invitation,youhaveaready-madeintroductionforthefirstminutesofthe

meeting.

Irecommendusingframingandstructuredsummarymethodstowritethe

meetinginvitationandthenusethatsamecontenttostartthemeeting.Even

thoughtheinformationisalreadyintheinvite,therearemultiplereasonsto

reviewitagainatthestartofthemeeting.

Noteveryonereadstheinvite.Don’tassumealltheattendeesareawareofthe

meetingpurpose.

Anyonewhodidreadtheinvitemayhavedonesowhentheyreceiveditdaysor

weeksago,andtheyprobablydon’thavethedetailintheirheads.

Aclearintroductionfocusestheattendeesonthetopicathand.

Theaudienceisaligned.Everyonehearsthesamemessageaboutthegoal,the

problemandtheproposedsolution.Youareallstartingfromthesame

descriptionofthesituation,andthishelpsremoveassumptions.

Itprovidesanopportunityforpeopletoaskquestionsandvalidateorclarifythe

goal,problem,orsolution.Ifsomethingisn’tclear,itisbettertoaddressitatthe

startofthemeetingsothateveryoneisworkingfromthesameunderstanding.

Itcalmsthenerves.Ifyouarenervousaboutleadingthemeeting,itgivesyoua

minutetoeaseintothediscussion.Youcanreadthenotesyoualreadyprepared,

soyoudon’tevenhavetothinkaboutwhattosayintheintroduction.

Bytalkingaboutthemeetingoutputandincludingthesolutionaspartofthe

structuredsummary,yougreatlyreducethetimespenttalkingthroughthe

historyofaproblem.Theattendeesstartthemeetingfocusedonsolvingthe

problem.

Ispentmanyyearsinjobsthatrequiredmetojumpfrommeetingtomeeting

withoutagap.Inthosesituations,Ineededtoshiftmentallytothenewtopicina

matterofminutes.ThiswasevenharderifIwasleadingthemeetingsbecause

myheadwasstillprocessingtheoutcomeofthepreviousdiscussionwhentrying

tostartthenextone.

Tomakethingseasier,andtopreventmixingtopicsbetweendifferentcalls,I

wouldstartallmyownmeetingswitharecapoftheinformationincludedinthe

invitation.Notonlydidthishelpmeshiftmythoughtstothetopicathand,it

alsoforcedmetowritegood,clearinvitationsbecauseIknewtheywouldbethe

scriptIusedinthemeeting.

Tip:Makemeetingintroductionseasierforyourselfbycreatingawell-structured

invitation.

DON’TFORWARDBLANKMEETINGINVITATIONS

Addingsomeonetoameetingiseasy;afewmouseclicks,andtheinviteissent.

Withtheincreaseinremoteworkingandvirtualmeetingsonthephoneorvideo,

roomsizeisnolongeraphysicallimitationtothenumberofpeoplewhocan

attendameeting.Byloweringthebarrierstoincludepeopleinmeetings,we

havefilledourcalendarswithmeetingsthatarenotalwaysrelevanttous.

Forwardingameetinginvitationisn’taproblem,butforwardingablankor

unclearinvitationis.Ifablankmeetinginvitationisforwarded,recipientseither

needtoaskthemeetingorganizerformoreinformation,ortheymustchoose

betweenignoringtherequestorattendingthemeetingtofindoutwhatit’sabout.

Eitheroneoftheseoptionswillincreasetheriskofyoubeingknownasabad

communicator.

Asanadditionalbenefit,whenyouincludeclearinformationinyourinvitations,

youwillreducethenumberofemailsyougetfrompeopleaskingwhatthe

meetingisabout.

REDUCEIRRELEVANTMEETINGSBYUSINGVALIDATION

CHECKPOINTS

Meetinginvitationsdon’tneedavalidationcheckpoint(asexplainedearlier),but

thereisalotofvalueinincludingoneatthestartofthemeetingitself.

Evenifyoudoincludeagoodintroductionanddescriptioninameeting

invitation,somepeoplewhoreceivetheinvitewon’treadthecontent.This

happensmoreoftenthanyouwouldthink.Thesearethepeoplewhoaremost

likelytositthroughthemeetingwonderingwhytheywereinvited.Thatisa

wasteoftimeforthemandawasteoftimeforyouifyoudon’tgettheinputyou

expectorneedfromthem.Thissituationcanalsodamageyourreputationasa

goodcommunicator.

Addingavalidationcheckpointafterintroducingthemeetingusingframingand

astructuredsummary,providesthefollowingbenefits.

Itisanaturalpointfortheattendeestoaskclarifyingquestionsaboutthe

purposeofthemeeting,thebackground,orthesummaryinformation.

Itallowsthegrouptoconfirmtherightpeopleareinthemeeting.

Itistheidealtimetoletpeoplechoosetoleavethemeeting.

Thefirsttwobenefitsareself-explanatory.Thethirdbenefitmakesmeeting

organizersuncomfortable.Itcanbehardenoughtogetpeopletojoinameeting

inthefirstplace,sowhywouldyougivepeopleachancetoleave?Ifyouwork

inaprofessionalenvironmentwherepeopleareaccountablefortheiractionsand

output,theneverypersonshouldbeabletodecideiftheycangetvaluefromor

providevaluetoameeting.Thekeytothisworkingistogiveenough

informationfortheparticipantstomakeaninformedchoice.

Afterdeliveringtheintroduction,givepeopletheoptiontooptoutofthe

meetingusingavalidationcheckpoint.Thesimplestwaytodothisistosay,“If

thisisn’tsomethingyouneedtobeinvolvedin,pleasefeelfreetoleave.”

Theframingcombinedwiththestructuredsummaryshouldprovideenough

informationforthepeopleinthemeetingtoassesstheirownlevelof

involvement.Thenitisuptoeveryparticipanttodecideiftheyneedtobethere.

Thismayseemcrazy;youmightthinkeveryonewouldgetupandleave.

However,whileoneortwomightdropout,mostwillstay.Thosewholeaveare

doingthemselvesandthecompanyafavorbychoosingtousetheirtimeon

higher-valueactivities.

Note:Ifreelyadmitthisapproachisn’tappropriateineverysituation.Some

teamsaretoonew,tooinexperienced,ornotawareoftheprofessionalism

requiredforthemtobeempowered.Ifyouknowthatspecificpeoplemust

beinthemeetingforanyreason,namethemashavingtostay.Youdon’t

wanttohaveakeyparticipantleavewhenyouknowheorsheisneeded.

Everyoneelsegetsthechoicetoleave.

Somepeoplearenervousaboutleavingameetingandmaychoosetostay.Ifyou

knowsomeoneisn’tnecessaryfortheconversation,youcansayyoudon’tthink

theywillgetmuchfromthemeetingandaskiftheywouldliketoleave.Always

giveaclearreason,e.g.,“Hi,Kim,wearen’tcoveringanythingrelatedtoyour

teamtoday.Youcanstayifyouwantto,butIdon’tmindifyouleave.”

Sometimestheytaketheopportunitytoleave,andsometimestheystay.Either

oneisfine.Thekeythingisyouarenotdemandingpeoplestayinyourmeeting;

therefore,noonecanaccuseyouofwastingpeople’stime.

Thisstepishelpfulwhenyouhaverecurringmeetingswherethetopicsmay

changefromonemeetingtothenext,andthewholeaudiencemaynotgetvalue

fromthetopicsinagivenweek.Usethevalidationcheckpointtogivepeople

theirtimeback,andtheywillbegrateful.

Thisattendeevalidationstephasanotherbenefit.Bymakingtheattendees

accountabilityforchoosingtostay,I’vefoundattendeeshaveagreater

engagementinthediscussion.

Shouldyouwritemeetinginvitationslikeyou’rewritinganemail?

It’suptoyouwhetheryouwanttostartthemessageinthemeetinginvitethe

samewayyouwouldwriteanemail(e.g.,startingwith“DearJohn”).Personal

preferenceandstyleplayabigpartinthisdecision.

Irecommendstartingtheinvitationwiththemeetingpurposestatementand

skippingthe“DearJohn”lines.Isaythisfortworeasons.

Mostmeetingsinvolvemultiplepeople,sopickingonenametoaddressthe

meetinginvitationtoisawkward.It’salsoimpracticaltolistalltheinviteesby

nameatthestartofthemessage.

Manypeoplereadmeetinginvitationsontheirphones.Withlimitedscreen

space,ithelpstohavethemeetingpurposeinthefirstlineofthemessage.This

increasesthelikelihooditwillbeseenandread,which,inturn,improves

attendanceandengagement.

Ifyoufeeluncomfortablewiththestructuredbutimpersonalapproachof

framing,youcanaddapersonalnoteoremail-stylemessageafterthekey

information.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Findaninvitationonyourworkcalendarthatyouhavesentforameetingthatis

comingupsoon.

Doesitprovideaclearpictureofwhatthemeetingisabout?

Doesitcontaintheelementsdescribedinthischapter?

Ifnot,rewritetheinvitationtoincludethemeetingpurpose,thedesiredoutput,

andakeymessageorsummary.

Whenyou’vewrittenit,senditasanupdatetoalltheattendees.Ifyouare

worriedaboutsendingtoomanymeetingupdates,knowthatmanypeoplewill

appreciatetheclarityoftheupdatedinvite,anditisunlikelythey’llbeannoyed

bytheadditionalitemintheiremailinboxes.Ifyoudon’twanttoupdateexisting

meetinginvitations,makesureyouusethisformatinthenextmeetinginvites

yousend.Youcan’tfixthepast,butyoucanmakeapositivechangeforthe

future.

SUMMARY

Meetingsareachallengeatwork.Alltoooftenwereceiveinvitationsthatare

blankorunclear.Wealsoexperiencemeetingsthatstartwithoutaclear

introduction.Meetinginvitationsarethestartofanewlineofcommunication

andshouldbeframedandsummarizedinasimilarwaytostartingaface-to-face

conversation.

Usecontext,intent,meetingpurpose,andmeetingoutcomeheadingsinyour

invites.Ifyouuseanagenda,makesureeachtopicisframed.

Thenexttimeyoufindyourselfabouttohit“send”onameetinginvite,pause,

lookatthecontent,andconsiderusingtheformatdescribedabove.Ifyoudo,the

peoplewhoturnupwillbebetterinformed,moreengaged,andpossiblyina

bettermoodbecauseofit.

PRESENTATIONS,ESCALATIONS,ANDOTHER

SITUATIONS

ThroughoutthisbookI’vegivenexamplesfromavarietyofscenariostoshow

howtogetthefirstminuterightindifferenttypesofworkconversationsand

communication.Despitethis,afewsituationsthataren’texplicitlydescribedcan

stillbenefitfromtheapplicationoftheframingandstructuredsummary

techniques.Thissectionprovidesguidanceonusingthetechniquesinthe

followingsituations:

Givingstatusupdates

Structuringaresponsewhenyouaren’texpectingtobeaskedaquestion

Escalatingissues

Deliveringpositivemessages

Introducingpresentations

GIVINGSTATUSUPDATES

Usingframingandstructuredsummariestogiveupdateshasalreadybeen

coveredinvariouspartsofthisbook,buthereisasummaryoftheapproach.

Eachupdaterequiresitsownframing;eitherthatoritshouldfollowthe

approachforframingmultipletopicsinthesameconversation.Frameeach

separateupdate,andensurethecontext,intent,andkeymessageareclear.

Statusupdateseitherrelatetoongoingworkorworkdoneintherecentpast.

Statusesforfutureworkarethesameasgivingastatusforongoingwork

becauseallupdatesshouldbefocusedontheactionandthenextstepstoaddress

anissueorachieveagoal.

Structuredsummariesforstatusupdatesshouldfollowthesamestepsand

principlesdescribedinthisbook.Eveniftheaudienceisfamiliarwiththe

project,theymaynotbefamiliarwiththespecificproblemaddressed.Iftheyare

familiarwiththeproblem,includeagoalandaproblemstatement,butkeep

themshort.Focusthemajorityoftheupdateonthesolutionandnextsteps.This

willhelpyoufindthebalancebetweenintroducingthetopicsufficientlysothat

theaudienceisonthesamepageasyouandnotwastingtimedescribing

somethingtheyalreadyknow.

Thelesstheaudienceknowsaboutthegoalortheproblem,thelongerthose

partsofthestructuredsummaryshouldbe.Thefocusshouldstillbeonthe

solutionbecausethat’swherethevalueofthediscussionis,butifthegoaland

problemstatementsarenotsufficientlydetailedtomatchthelevelofaudience

knowledge,thesolutionwon’tmakesense.Itisabalancingactthatyouwillget

wrongsometimes,butbyusingthevalidationcheckpoint,youraudiencewillget

achancetoaskquestionsiftheyneedmoredetailupfront.Evenifyou

oversimplifythesummary,youwillstillprovideabetterintroductiontoyour

topicthanifyouhadnosummaryatall.

FOCUSONSOLUTIONS,NOTPROBLEMS

Whengivingstatusupdatestopeopleaboveyouintheorganization,itiseasyto

givealongdescriptionoftheproblems.Trytoavoidthat.Whiletheaudience

mightappreciatetheeffortsyouandyourteamhaveputintoovercomethe

problems,theyprobablycaremoreaboutwhethertheproblemisfixed.Don’t

spendtimedwellingonproblems;focusonsolutions.

Itisequallyeasytogivelongdescriptionsofthesolution.Thisis

understandable;it’sachancetodemonstratethegoodworkyouandyourteam

didtoovercomethechallenge.Justliketheconversationwiththecarmechanic,

theaudiencewantstoknowiftheproblemisfixedyet,andifnot,whenwillit

be.Theyalsowanttoknowwhoisdoingwhattofixtheproblem.

Ifyouaredescribingafutureplanofactionasthesolutioninthestructured

summary,keepthedescriptionshort,andsummarizeonlythekeypoints.Unless

youareaskedtodoso,don’twalkthrougheverystepofaplantofixaproblem.

Giveasummary,andthenallowtheaudiencetoaskquestionsaboutthedetails.

Iftheywanttoknowmore,theywillask.

Thesameapproachistrueforupdatingpeersorpeopleatlowerlevelsinthe

organization.Givethesummary,focusonthenextsteps,andthenallowthe

audiencetoaskquestionsiftheyneedmoreinformation.

ONEMINUTEMIGHTBEENOUGH

Inmanycases,aone-minutesummaryofthestatusisallthatisneeded.

Wehavethemistakenbeliefthatstatusupdatesneedtoprovidedetailon

everythingthatwasdonetoresolveanissueordescribeallthethingsthathave

beenfixedthatmeanthecurrentstatusisgoodor“green.”Forsomereason,we

believeourmanagersorourteamsareinterestedin,orneedtoknow,everylast

detail.Thisisonereasonwhystatus-updatemeetingsoftendragonforanhour

ormore.

>>ACTIVITY<<

Trygivingyournextstatusupdateusingonlyframing,astructuredsummary,

andavalidationcheckpoint.Addnothingelse.Youmaybesurprisedathowfew

questionsyougetandhowmuchshorterthemeetingis.

WhenYouAren’tExpectingtoAnsweraQuestion

Sometimesweareaskedaquestionorareaskedtoexplainsomethingwhenwe

arenotexpectingit.Youmightbeinameetingandarecalledupontorespondto

aquestion,orsomeonestopsbyyourdeskandasksforsomething.Whateverthe

situation,beingcaughtunpreparedisnotmostpeople’sideaoffun.These

situationsoftenleadtoaflusteredandramblingresponse.

Inthesesituations,theframingandstructuredsummarytechniquescanhelpyou

deliveraclear,conciseresponse.Takeamomenttoremindyourselfofthethree

partsofframing(context,intent,keymessage)andthethreepartsofstructured

summary(goal,problem,solution),andthenworkthroughtheminyour

response.Usethestructureofthesetechniquesasaframeworkforyour

response.

Framingyourresponsehelpstoclarifyorreinforcethequestionyouwereasked.

Forexample:

Manager:“Canyoutelluswhatcausedsalestobelowerthanexpectedthis

month?”

You:“Saleswerelowerthanexpectedthismonthbecause...[Insertkey

message.][Insertgoal,problem,solution.]”

Byrepeatingthequestion,youhavenotonlyconfirmedthatyouheardit,you

havealsoprovidedthecontextandintentforyouranswer.Therestofthe

sentenceshouldbeaone-linekeymessagefollowedbyastructuredsummary

usingtheGPSmethod.

Ifyouarefacedwithaquestionliketheoneintheexampleabove,it’seasyto

feeldefensive.Afterall,you’vejustbeenaskedwhysomethingdidn’tgowell,

andhumannaturecompelsustotrytojustifythesituation.Usingastructured

summarymakesiteasiertoavoidemotionalresponsesandexcusesbecauseyou

arefocusedonthesolution.Yourresponsecanfocusonthestepstakentoavoid

aworseresultortheactionsbeingtakentoimprovetheresultinthenearfuture.

Ineithercasetheinformationispositiveandfocusedongettingabetterresult.

Asalways,thereisanexceptiontothisrule.Ifyouarecalledontospeakorare

askedaquestiononatopicthatyoudon’thaveinformationfor,youwon’tbe

abletoframeorsummarizetheresponse.Instead,behonestaboutnotknowing.

Respondwithanapologyfornothavingtheinformationavailable,andproposea

solution,suchasgettingtheinformationandsharingitatanappropriatetimein

thenearfuture(e.g.,youcanemailitaftertheconversationorgiveanupdatein

thenextmeeting).

EscalatingIssues

Escalationshappenwhenyouneedsomeonehigherthanyouintheorganization

totakeactionorbeawareofasituation.Bothofthesescenarioshavebeen

coveredinpreviouschaptersinthe“Heads-up/FYI”and“RequestforHelp”

examples.

Framingandstructuredsummariesareessentialforgoodcommunicationwhen

escalatinganissueforthefollowingreasons.

Yougettothepointfaster.

Framingandstructuredsummariesarefact-based.Thisreducesthechanceof

usingemotionandgivingexcuses,whichmakesiteasierforthepersonreceiving

theescalationtoassessthesituation.

Structuredsummariesfocusonsolvingtheproblem.Thisensurestheescalation

isn’tjustacomplaintaboutsomethingthatisn’tgoodbutactuallylaysoutaplan

thatfocusestheattentiononwhattodoabouttheproblem.

Iftheescalationisdoneverbally,createthesummaryaheadoftime,writeit

down,andtakeitwithyou.Don’tskipanysteps,especiallynotthesolution.

Thatisthekeytothewholemessageinanescalation.

Ifyouaresendinganescalationemail,followtheapproachdescribedpreviously

toensuretheemailisclear,concise,andwellorganized.

Ifyoudon’thaveanyideasforasolutiontotheproblem,meaningyouareusing

thesolutionpartofthestructuredsummarytoaskforhelp,themethodisstill

valuablebecauseitquicklyandclearlydefinestheproblemandallowsmore

timetodiscusspossiblesolutions.

DELIVERINGPOSITIVEMESSAGES

Manyoftheexamplesinthisbookfocusonnegativesituations.Thisisby

designbecausemostofourworkisaboutovercomingchallengesandresolving

problems.However,workisalsoaboutachievinggoals,andweshouldcelebrate

thoseachievements.

Evenwhenyouaresharinggoodnews,peoplehaveafinitetoleranceforlong,

ramblingexplanations.Itisjustasimportanttogettothepointquicklywhen

givingpraiseorrecognitionasitiswhencommunicatingaboutnegativeissues.

Afterall,itmeansthereismoretimetocelebrateifpeopleknowthereason

quicker.

Deliveringgoodnewsfollowsthesamerulesastalkingaboutproblems.Provide

context,makeyourintentclear,andgettothepoint.

IntroducingPresentations

Presentationsinvolveslidesorspeakingtoaroomfullofpeople,but,inmany

ways,theyaresimilartoconversations.Thereasonsforgivingapresentationat

work(otherthanforsalesandmarketingpurposes)aretogiveinformation,ask

forhelp,getfeedbackonaproposal,getadecision,andsoforth.Thesearethe

samereasonswehavemostconversationsatwork,andtheprinciplesofframing

andstructuredsummaryapplyheretoo.

Awealthofinformationisavailableonlineaboutcreatingpresentations,soI

don’tintendtoreplicateorcontradictanyofit.Thewayframingandstructured

summarieshelpistoprovideaformatyoucanusetointroduceyour

presentation.

Asyoustartyourpresentation,theaudienceneedscontext,andtheymust

understandyourintentandthepresentation’soverallmessage.Theymayormay

nothavethisinformationalreadyfromtheinvitation.Whethertheaudience

alreadyhastheinformationornot,itisgoodtogiveittothemagainatthestart

ofthepresentation.Thisensureseveryoneintheroomisstartingwiththesame

understandingofthepurpose.

Aftertheintroduction,youcanworkthroughthepresentationmaterialas

normal.Remember,thisadviceappliestoworkpresentations.Ifyouaregivinga

presentationtoentertainoryouaregivingaTED-talk-stylepresentation,these

techniquesmaynotapply.

Instant-messagingPlatforms

Manycompaniesuseinternalinstant-messagingsystemsforcommunication

betweenemployees.SomeexamplesincludeSkype,Slack,MicrosoftTeams,

Flock,andChatwork.Someoftheseapplicationsmaynolongerbearoundwhen

youreadthisbook,andothersmighthavebecomepopular.Thepointis,person-

to-personmessengerapplicationsareakeypartofcommunicationatwork.

Theprinciplesofframingandstructuredsummaryremainvalidnomatterwhat

messagingapplicationyourorganizationuses.Messagessentviathese

applicationsaremuchcloserinstyletoconversationsthantheyaretoemail.The

instantdeliveryofthecontentallowsforaback-and-forthconversationinstead

ofthecompletemessagebeingdeliveredinonego.

Youmightstartwithagreetingandafewsocialinteractioncomments,butwhen

yougettotheworkpartoftheconversation,thecomponentsoftimecheck,

framing,structuredsummaryandvalidationcheckpointarestillneeded.

Aswithin-personcommunication,themessagesyousendneedtomakeitclear

howmuchtimethechatwilltake,whatyouaretalkingabout,whatyouexpect

theotherpersontodowiththeinformation,andashortsummaryofthecritical

information.

Justbecauseinstant-messengerappsseeminformaldoesn’tmeanyoushouldbe

anylessclearinthewayyoucommunicate.Ifyoufollowtheprinciples

describedinthisbook,yourmessageswillbeclearandconcisenomatterwhat

methodyouusetodeliverthem.

FramingInterviewAnswers

Ifthereiseverasituationwhereyouwanttogetthefirstminuteright,itisinan

interviewforanewjob.Whetheryouareapplyingforanewroleinyourcurrent

organizationorapplyingsomewherenew,makingagoodfirstimpressionis

critical.Interviewsarechock-fullofopportunitiestogetthefirstminuteright,or

wrong!

Withcommunicationlistedasatop-threeskillforalmostallcompanies,thereis

nobettertimetodemonstrateyoucancommunicatelogically,clearly,and

conciselythanwhenapplyingforajob.

Luckily,interviewsprovideoneofthebestopportunitiestoharnessthepowerof

framingandstructuredsummaries.Foranywherefromthirtytoninetyminutes

inaninterview,youwillbeaskedquestionsthatstartwithphraseslike:

“Givemeanexampleof...”

“Tellmeaboutatimewhen...”

Whenfacedwiththesetypesofquestions,youdon’thavetenminutestogivethe

backstoryandcontextforyourexamples.Youneedtoquicklygettothespecific

partoftheexamplethatanswersthequestiontheinterviewerreallywantstohear

about.Unlessyouareinterviewingforajobinyourcurrentcompanywith

someonewhoisalreadyfamiliarwithyourwork,theinterviewerwillknow

nothingabouttheamazingexamplesyouwanttousetoanswertheirquestions.

Byusingframingandstructuredsummary,youcandescribeanysituationin

underaminute.Thisprovidestheperfectformattousewhengivingyour

answers.

Interviewerswanttoknowhowyouactindifficultsituationsandhowyou

overcomechallengesinajob.Whatbetterwaytoprovidethisinformationthan

byusingaformatthatquicklyoutlineswhatyouneededtoachieve,what

problemsstoodinyourway,andwhatsolutionyouimplementedtoresolvethe

problem?

FRAMING

Ittakesonlyafewsecondstopreparetheinterviewertohearyourexampleif

youframeitcorrectly.

Hereishowframingworkswithinterviewanswers.

Context:Describethesituationusinggenericterms.Don’tuseprojector

systemnamesthatmayhavenomeaningtoanyoneoutsideyourcurrent

team.

Intent:Statewhatyouneededtohappeninthesituation.

KeyMessage:Whatisthemainmessagedescribingthedifficultsituation?

Thisisusuallytheproblemorchallengethatyousuccessfullyovercame.

Theexceptiontothisiswhenyouaredescribingatimewhenyoudidn’tdo

somethingwell(someinterviewquestionsaskfortimesoffailure).Inthiscase

youcangiveasummaryofthenegativeoutcomeorfailureasthekeymessage.

STRUCTUREDSUMMARY

Afterframingtheanswer,delivertheexampleclearlyandconciselywitha

structuredsummary.

Goal:Describethegoalforthesituation.Thismaybeyourgoal,the

companygoal,orsomeoneelse’sgoalthatyouhelpedthemachieve.This

mayduplicatealittleofwhatyousaidintheframingsection,butthatis

alright.Aslongasyoudon’trepeatthesamewordsfromtheframing,itwill

helpreinforcetheinformationintheexample.

Problem:Describetheproblemthatstoppedyou,theotherperson,orthe

companyfromachievingthegoal.

Solution:Brieflydescribewhatyoudidtoovercomethedifficultproblem.Ifyou

describeaproblemthatsomeoneelsefaced,thesolutioniswhatyoudidtohelp

themsolveit.

Aftergivingasummaryinlessthanoneminute,youcanexpandyouranswerto

providemoredetailaboutthesolutionyouusedtoovercometheproblemand

achievethegoal.Aswithanyinterviewanswer,youshouldonlygiverelevant

informationandstopwhenyou’vesaidenoughtoanswerthequestion.

Hereisanexampleofaclassicinterviewquestionwithananswerusingframing

andstructuredsummary.

ExampleInterviewQuestion#1:Canyoutellmeaboutadifficultwork

situationandhowyouovercameit?

Context:Iwassigningupavaluablenewcustomer.

Intent:Ineededaseniormanagertoapprovethecontract.

KeyMessage:Noonewasavailable,andIwasatriskoflosingthebiggest

saleoftheyear.

Goal:Ineededtogetexecutiveapprovalonthefinalcontractforahigh-

valueclientbytheendoftheday.Wehadaharddeadlinetomeet,orwe

wouldlosetheclienttoourcompetitor.

Problem:Ihadtogetthecontractsignedbytheendoftheday;otherwise,

theclientwouldgotoourcompetitor,buttheexecutiveteamwasatan

offsitemeetingwithstrictinstructionsnottodisturbthem.

Solution:IcontactedtheadminassistantfortheVPofSalestoaskifthere

wasaphonenumberwecoulduseforurgentissues.Ialsocontactedmy

managerandaskedifshecouldhelp.ThenIspoketotheclienttoletthem

knowwemayneedafewhourstogetthesignatureonthecontract.Ididn’t

wanttosurprisethemifthingstooklongerthanexpected.Mymanagergot

intouchwiththeVP,andIdroveouttotheirlocationtogetthesignature

andthentookittoFedEx.Itwasclose,butwegotthecontracttotheclient

intime.

Inafewlinestheinterviewerhasasenseofwhatwashappeningandwhythis

wasadifficultsituation.Theframingmakesitclearwhatthesituationinvolved

andtheproblemthatneededtobesolved.Thestructuredsummarydescribesthe

probleminmoredetail,andthesolutionshowsthemultiplestepstakento

resolvetheproblem.Eachsentenceinthesolutionishighlevel:notangents,no

unnecessarydetail,andnorabbitholes.

Thisisacompleteanswerthatcanbedeliveredinlessthantwominutes.With

suchaconciseanswer,thereisenoughtimetoaddavalidationcheckpoint.You

couldasktheintervieweriftheywouldliketohearmoreorforyoutoclarify

anypartofyouranswer.

Bystoppingafterthesummary,theinterviewerhastheoptiontodelvefurther

intoanypartoftheanswerortomoveontoanotherquestion.Manypeoplegive

longanswersthatprovidedetailstheinterviewereitherdoesn’tneedtoknowor

doesn’tcareabout.Thiswastestimethatcouldbespentgivingmoreexamples

ofwhytheyshouldhireyou.

ExampleInterviewQuestion#2:Describeatimeyouwentoutofyourway

tohelpsomebody.

Context:Iwasonadeadlinetosubmitthemonthlyaccountreports.

Intent:Iplannedtocompletethemthatafternoon.

KeyMessage:Anewmemberofmyteam,Kerry,askedforsomehelp,andI

hadtochoosebetweencompletingmyreportsorhelpingher.

Goal:Kerrywastogiveherfirstpresentationtothemanagersthenextday.

Allthedepartmentheadswouldbethere,andKerryknewthiswasan

opportunitytostandout.

Problem:Unfortunately,Kerryhadonlyrecentlytakenoverthework.It

wasn’tgoingwellbeforeshecameonboard,andshewasnervousabout

speakingtoaroomofseniorleaderswithonlybadnewstoshare.Iknewit

wouldtakemostofthedaytohelpKerryprepare,andthatputmyown

deadlineatrisk.

Solution:Imovedalower-prioritymeetingtoadifferentdayandcleared

myschedulefortheafternoon,soIcouldworkwithKerrytohelpher

prepareforthepresentation.Shepracticedpresentingtome,werevisedthe

slidesbasedonsomeinformationIhadontheproject,andweprepared

answerstothemostlikelyquestions.Aftershewascomfortable,Iwentback

andfinishedmyreport.Ittookafewhoursofworkthateveningto

complete,butitwasworthitbecauseKerryacedthepresentation.

Inthiscase,theframingfocusesonyouandthesituationyoufaced.This

providesthecontextforwhytheexampleyouareabouttogivedemonstrates

goingoutofyourwaytohelpsomeoneelse.

ThestructuredsummaryisdifferentbecauseitdescribesKerry’sgoal,thegoal

ofthepersonwhoneededhelp,insteadofyourgoal.Theproblemsummarizes

Kerry’sproblemandalsotiesbacktotheproblemyoufaced.Unlessyouare

impactedinsomeway,youcannotsayyouwentoutofyourwaytohelp

someoneelse.ThesolutionfocusesonwhatyoudidtohelpKerryaswellasthe

solutiontotheproblemyoufaced.

PREPAREBEFORETHEINTERVIEW

Itispossibletostructureaninterviewansweronthefly,especiallyifyouare

familiarwithusingframingandstructuredsummaries.Thiscanhelpwhenyou

areaskedaquestionforwhichyouarenotprepared.Moreoften,itisbetterto

prepareforaninterviewbyidentifyingtheexamplesyouwanttouseforthe

questionsyouknowarelikelytobeasked.Whenpreparing,youshouldwriteout

theexamplesusingtheframingandstructuredsummarytechniquesandreview

themagainstcommoninterviewquestions.Youmightneedtoframeanexample

slightlydifferentlytohighlighttherelevantkeypointsdependingonwhatthe

questionasksfor.

Ifyouhaveexamplesthatwillbeusedtoanswermorethanoneinterview

question,youcanframethesubsequentanswersbyreferringtothegoaland

problemthatyoualreadydescribedinresponsetopreviousquestions.Thissaves

youtimeandhelpsyougettothesolutionpartoftheanswerfaster,whichis

whatyouwanttobetalkingaboutbecauseitdemonstratesyourabilities.

Themainchangetomakewhenapplyingthesetechniquesininterviewsisto

makeallthecontentpasttense.Insteadofstatingwhatyouneed,saywhatyou

needed.Everythingelseisstillvalid.

Interviewsareoftenstressful,high-pressuresituationsthattendnottobringout

ourbestcommunicationskills.Byusingthetechniquesofframingand

structuredsummary,youcanconsistentlygiveclear,conciseanswersthatshow

theinterviewerthatyouareagreatcommunicator.

CONCLUSION

ClearCommunicationStartsbyGettingtheFirstMinuteRight

Thefirstminuteofanyconversationiscriticaltoitssuccess.Theengagement,

understanding,andnextstepsyouraudiencewilltakecanallbedefinedinthe

firstminute.Withoutaclear,well-structuredstart,youriskconfusingyour

audience,wastingtime,andnotgettingtheresultsyouexpected.

Giveyourmessagethebestchanceatbeingunderstoodbypreparingyour

audiencetoreceiveit.Setclearexpectationsforhowmuchtimeyouneed,so

youraudienceknowsiftheyareabouttohaveathirty-secondorathirty-minute

discussion.Useframingtofocustheaudience’sattention,givingcontextforthe

topic,lettingthemknowwhatyouintendforthemtodowiththeinformation,

andthengettingtothepointquicklywithakeymessage.

Havingpreparedyouraudiencetoreceiveyourmessage,keeptheirattention

withaclearstructuredsummaryofyourtopic.Mostworkconversationsare

rootedinsolvingproblemsandachievinggoals.Summarizeyourtopicwitha

clearstatementofyourgoal.Thishelpspeopleseewhatyouaretryingto

achieve.Giveashortdescriptionofthespecificproblemthatispreventingyou

fromachievingthegoal,andthenproposeasolution,whichmaybeanactual

solutiontotheproblemorarequesttohelpfindasolution.Eitherway,make

surethesummaryfocusesonthefutureanddoesn’tdwellonthepast.

Unlessyouaregivinganentertainingorsuspensefulspeech,yourtopicshould

alwaysbesummarizedinafewlinesatthestart.Thishelpsyouraudiencesee

thewholepicture.Itdoesn’tmatterhowcomplexyourtopicis;anythingcanbe

summedupinafewlines.

Finally,don’tforgetthatcommunicationinvolvestwoormorepeople.While

youmightbereadytotalkaboutyourtopic,youraudiencemaynotbe.Make

sureyouvalidatethatyouraudiencehastheabilityandtheavailabilitytoengage

intheconversation.Givethemanopportunitytodefertheconversationto

anothertimeortoredirectyoutosomeoneelsewhocanhelp.

Thetechniquesdescribedinthisbookaresimple,butittakestime,practice,and

theapplicationofthesetechniquesinawiderangeofsituationstoget

comfortablewiththem.Itmayhelptowriteouttheframingandstructured

summaryforeachmessagebeforespeakingtoyouraudience.Itonlytakesa

minuteortwotowritethesedown,andyou’llgetthoseminutesbackmany

timesoverintheshorter,moreeffectiveconversationsyouhaveeveryday.

Overtimeyouwillfinditeasiertothinkintermsofcontext,intent,key

message,goal,problem,andsolution.Eventually,youwon’tneedtowrite

anythingdownbeforeyouuseitinconversation,althoughyoumaystillchoose

topreparesomenotesinexceptionalsituations.Istillwritemyownsummaries

whenthetopiciscomplex,ortheconversationisparticularlyimportant.Ithas

neverhurtmetobepreparedwhenitreallymatters.

Thankyouforallowingmetosharethisinformationwithyou.Usethese

techniques,andIamconfidentthatyouwillbecomeknownasagreat

communicatorbecauseyou’llhaveclearer,moreeffectiveworkconversations

thatgetresults.

RESOURCES&REFERENCES

“CostofPoorInternalCommunications–BusinessCaseforEffectiveInternal

Communications,SiemensEnterpriseCommunications,”Sept.20,2012,

https://www.slideshare.net/ldickmeyer/cost-of-poor-internal-communications-

912.

JohnBeeson,“WhyYouDidn’tGetThatPromotion,”HarvardBusinessReview,

June2009,https://hbr.org/2009/06/why-you-didnt-get-that-promotion.

E.T.Klemmer,F.W.Snyder,“MeasurementofTimeSpentCommunicating,”

JournalofCommunication,Volume22,Issue2,June1972,142–158,

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1972.tb00141.x.

KristiHedges,“TheDo-Over:HowToCorrectABadFirstImpression,”Forbes,

Feb.10,2015,https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/02/10/the-

do-over-how-to-correct-a-bad-first-impression/#2784dc7255f6.

“WhatisInformationProcessing?”Study.com,lastvisitedSept.25,2020,

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-information-processing-definition-

stages.html.

“HowDoestheBrainProcessInformation?”Teach-nology.com,lastvisited

Sept.20,2020,https://www.teach-

nology.com/teachers/methods/info_processing/.

“BLUF,”Wikipedia,lastvisitedSept.20,2020,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF.

“EmailUsage–WorkingAgeKnowledgeWorkers(USTrendedResults),

SlideShare,lastvisitedSept.20,2019,https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/2019-

adobe-email-usage-study.

“TheStateofMeetingsin2020,”LUCID,lastvisitedSept.20,2020,

https://www.lucidmeetings.com/state-of-meetings-2020.

MichaelMankins,ChrisBrahm,andGregCaimi,“YourScarcestResource,”

HarvardBusinessReview,May2014,https://hbr.org/2014/05/your-scarcest-

resource.

OtherResourcesUsedInTheCreationOfThisBook

McCormack,Joseph.[Brief]MakeaBiggerImpactbySayingLess.Hoboken,

NJ:JohnWileyandSons,2014.

Frank,Milo.HowtoGetYourPointAcrossin30SecondsorLess.NewYork:

PocketBooks,1986.

Kendall,Rob.WorkStorming:WhyConversationsatWorkGoWrong,andHow

toFixThem.London,UK:WatkinsMediaInc.,2016.

Borg,James.Persuasion,TheArtofInfluencingPeople2ndEdition.Harlow,

UK:PearsonEducationLimited,2007.

Acknowledgements

Thisbookrepresentstheendoffifteenyears,learningaboutcommunication

fromsomegreatpeople.Butit’salsothebeginningofthenextexcitingjourney

asIstarthelpingotherpeoplelearnhowtobecomegreatcommunicators.This

book,andallthatitrepresents,wouldn’thavebeenpossiblewithoutthehelp,

advice,andinputfromsomanykeypeople.

Danielle,yougavemetwoofthemostvaluablegiftsofall;thetimetowrite,

andthebeliefthatIcouldcreatesomethinguseful.Howyoumanagedtofind

waystogivemetimewhilewemovedhouse,changedjobs,changedcontinents,

andlookedafterathree-year-old,Idonotknow.Thefactyoudidallthatduring

aglobalpandemicisevenmoreimpressive.Withoutadoubt,therewouldbeno

bookwithoutyou.

RobAlban,yougavemethepushIneededtostartthisnewjourney.The

teaching,training,andnowwriting,allcamefromyourinsistencethatIhad

somethingusefultoshare,thatIcouldhelppeoplebebettercommunicators,and

thatIwouldlovedoingit.ThankyouforknowingmebetterthanIknewmyself.

KimSchachtandtheeditingteamatFriesenPress,thankyoufortakingmy

wordsandmouldingthemintosomethingreadable.Thefirstroundofediting

showedmejusthowmuchIneededyourhelp,andIdonotregretit.Theadvice

andchangesyouprovidedhavemadethisabetterbookforeveryonewhoreads

it.

Thecontentofthisbookwouldbeincompleteanddisorganizedifitweren’tfor

theinputofafantasticgroupofBETAreaders.Everyonewhoreadsthisbook

shouldbegratefultoBrianChopp,AlejandraAylwin-Colmenares,Barbara

Smith,DavidKrause,PoornaRaj,HelenGreenhough,andBhargaviVaranasi.

Thankyou.

CarlosdePommes,youtaughtmethefirstprinciplesofclearcommunication.

Thoselessonsstayedwithmeforalmosttwodecadesandarethefoundationof

theideasinthisbook.

Lastly,IwanttothankthepeopleI’veworkedwithatQinetiQ,Orange,RIM,

Samsung,FranceTelecom,Peritum,InMotionHosting,andAnthem.Youhelped

melearnandtesttheideasinthisbookthroughhundredsofhours

communicatinginrealsituations.Youhaveallinspired,taught,andimproved

me.